MARRIAGE IS GOD'S GIFT TO MAN - FR. GOMINAH
Christians have been advised to treasurer their marriages and to make faithfulness to their spouses their watchword, as the institution of marriage is a gift of God to man, which is sacred and should not be toiled with.
This advise was given recently by the immediate past rector of St. Paul Catholic Church Iyerekhu Rev. Fr. Sylvester Gominah, while giving a homily at the holy solemnization of matrimony between Mr Daniel Aigberua (Son of the diocesan laity correspondent, Mr Sylvester Aigberua) and former Miss Patricia Okpalla.
Continuing, Rev. Fr. Gominah reiterated that God instituted marriage and did not make a mistake when he created woman for man from his rib to be a help mate, thereby making the institution perfect and sacred so that they can be co-creator with Him when they procreate.
The Rector pointed out that in marriage, the couple is no longer two but one, who has been called into the service of God to bring up children that will glorify the Lord and make a home that will help to evangelize Christ to the unsaved, show them the idea home that God intends for all, so that the society can be a happy and safe place for all.
However, Fr. Gominah lamented that some people do not have regard for this perfect gift of God and have turned it to a social activity with no thought or place for God in their homes, which has led to the high increase of divorce cases and unruly and disobedient children who torment their parents and all around them.
More, the priest called on all to endeavour to make Christ the centre of their relationships instead of lust, stressing that it is when relationships are dedicated to God that the love of God can radiate around it and produce good fruits that will serve as points of reference of God's blessing.
Admonishing the newly wed, Fr. Gominah charged them to cultivate the habit of constant communication, modesty, godly character, praying and eating together and to endeavour to shun all third parties in their home affairs, if they are to have a successful married life, while praying for grace to be faithful to one another, love, bring forth godly children and good health of mind and body.
Highpoint of the ceremony was a joyful thanksgiving procession to the altar by the new wed accompanied by family members, friends, well wishers and parishioners.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
RELATIONSHIP OF YOUTHS TO BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
By Rev. Fr. Ferdinand Okafor
One of the problems in the Catholic Church today that requires urgent attention, is the decline in the devotion to Mary among the youths. Mary played an important role in the history of salvation. It is worrisome to observe that the talk about Mary as well as devotion to her is considered boring or irrelevant by the present day youth. Most youths no longer participate in the recitation of the rosary whether in the Church or at home. They see the praying of the rosary as well as the devotion to Mary as the prayer for the aged. This problem bothers the mind of many traditional Catholics and the question that follows is: what is the way out? But before discussing the way out of this problem, we must be certain of those that are concerned in this matter: that is, the youths.
It is difficult to say exactly who the youths are. There are various opinions as regards those that can be regarded as youths. In the Catholic Church, the age is not really defined. The Code of Canon Law only defines those who are minor: that is anybody who has not completed the eighteenth year of age, while anybody that has completed the eighteenth year of age is regarded as major (Can. 97 $ 1). The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary describes youth as a period of time when someone is young: that is, the stage between childhood and adulthood. Some people regard youth as a boy or girl who is a teenager: that is from the ages of 13 to 19. In all however, youth is a period of physical growth and development from puberty to maturity. It is, the period of adolescence.
The problem with the youths of today is that they like spontaneous prayers that give little or no room for meditation. This is a resultant effect of the kind of society that we are living in. In a society where people prefer noise of all kinds to quietness, this kind of attitude is bound to occur. Most youths today, dread silence. They do not appreciate the value of silence. Little wonder then that most youths are no longer creative and their ability to retain ideas is low too.
The way out of this problem could be to organize a cultural revival among the youths which will focus on forming the youths to imbibe the value of silence and meditation. Youths need to develop love for the Blessed Virgin Mary and learn from her what it means to ponder on the word of God. Mary is a perfect example of true discipleship and a model for all who desire to live a contemplative life. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary has its appropriate point of reference in Christ. It helps us to contemplate the works of Christ in the salvation of mankind and to love him in turn. The Church rightly honours the Blessed Virgin with special devotion. From the most ancient times, the Blessed Virgin has been honoured with the title: Mother of God, to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs.
The devotion that is given to the Blessed Virgin Mary differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit (Lumen Gentium, n. 66). In honouring the Blessed Virgin Mary, God is adored and glorified. When we contemplate on the virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we easily call to mind Our Lord Jesus Christ and His salvific work. In promoting devotion of the Blessed Virgin Mary, certain attitudes of piety which are incorrect such as exaggeration of content and form which even falsifies doctrine as well as the small-mindedness which obscures the figure and mission of Mary must be avoided. It is necessary to avoid a one-sided presentation of the figure of Mary, which by overstressing one element compromises the overall picture given by the Gospel. Every unworthy self-interest is to be carefully banned from the area of what is sacred.
Mary is not only an example for the whole Church in the exercise of divine worship, but she is also, clearly, a teacher of the spiritual life for individual Christians. The faithful are to look up to her and imitate her in making their lives an act of worship of God and their worship a commitment of their lives. As St. Ambrose rightly stated, we need to have the spirit of Mary in order to glorify God and proclaim the greatness of the Lord. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary gives Christians an opportunity to grow in divine grace and motivates them to cultivate theological virtues of faith, hope and love, as well as other virtues that characterized the Blessed Virgin Mary. These virtues include humility, meditation, prayerfulness (cf. Acts 1:12-14); her fortitude in exile (cf. Mt. 2:13-23) and in suffering (cf. Lk. 2:34-35, 49; Jn. 19:25); her poverty reflecting dignity and trust in God (cf. Lk. 1:48, 2:24); her attentive care for her Son, from His humble birth to the ignominy of the cross (cf. Lk.2:1-7; Jn. 19:25-27); her delicate forethought (cf. Jn. 2:1-11); her virginal purity (cf. Mt. 1:18-25; Lk. 1:26-38); her strong and chaste married love. These virtues of the Mother will also adorn her children who steadfastly study her example in order to reflect it in their own lives.
It is impossible to honour the Blessed Virgin Mary who is “full of grace” (Lk. 1:28) without thereby cultivating in oneself the state of grace, which is friendship with God, communion with Him and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is this divine grace which takes possession of the whole man and conforms him to the image of the Son of God (cf. Rom. 8:29; Col. 1:18). (n. 57, Marialis Cultus Pope Paul VI).
Devotion to the Blessed Virgin is an aspect of Christian worship (Lk. 1:48). We express our devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary through the celebration of the liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God and Marian prayer, such as the rosary, which is an “epitmo of the whole Gospel”, that expresses this devotion to the Virgin Mary. We therefore need to take these devotions seriously by participating actively in them.
By Rev. Fr. Ferdinand Okafor
One of the problems in the Catholic Church today that requires urgent attention, is the decline in the devotion to Mary among the youths. Mary played an important role in the history of salvation. It is worrisome to observe that the talk about Mary as well as devotion to her is considered boring or irrelevant by the present day youth. Most youths no longer participate in the recitation of the rosary whether in the Church or at home. They see the praying of the rosary as well as the devotion to Mary as the prayer for the aged. This problem bothers the mind of many traditional Catholics and the question that follows is: what is the way out? But before discussing the way out of this problem, we must be certain of those that are concerned in this matter: that is, the youths.
It is difficult to say exactly who the youths are. There are various opinions as regards those that can be regarded as youths. In the Catholic Church, the age is not really defined. The Code of Canon Law only defines those who are minor: that is anybody who has not completed the eighteenth year of age, while anybody that has completed the eighteenth year of age is regarded as major (Can. 97 $ 1). The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary describes youth as a period of time when someone is young: that is, the stage between childhood and adulthood. Some people regard youth as a boy or girl who is a teenager: that is from the ages of 13 to 19. In all however, youth is a period of physical growth and development from puberty to maturity. It is, the period of adolescence.
The problem with the youths of today is that they like spontaneous prayers that give little or no room for meditation. This is a resultant effect of the kind of society that we are living in. In a society where people prefer noise of all kinds to quietness, this kind of attitude is bound to occur. Most youths today, dread silence. They do not appreciate the value of silence. Little wonder then that most youths are no longer creative and their ability to retain ideas is low too.
The way out of this problem could be to organize a cultural revival among the youths which will focus on forming the youths to imbibe the value of silence and meditation. Youths need to develop love for the Blessed Virgin Mary and learn from her what it means to ponder on the word of God. Mary is a perfect example of true discipleship and a model for all who desire to live a contemplative life. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary has its appropriate point of reference in Christ. It helps us to contemplate the works of Christ in the salvation of mankind and to love him in turn. The Church rightly honours the Blessed Virgin with special devotion. From the most ancient times, the Blessed Virgin has been honoured with the title: Mother of God, to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs.
The devotion that is given to the Blessed Virgin Mary differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit (Lumen Gentium, n. 66). In honouring the Blessed Virgin Mary, God is adored and glorified. When we contemplate on the virtues of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we easily call to mind Our Lord Jesus Christ and His salvific work. In promoting devotion of the Blessed Virgin Mary, certain attitudes of piety which are incorrect such as exaggeration of content and form which even falsifies doctrine as well as the small-mindedness which obscures the figure and mission of Mary must be avoided. It is necessary to avoid a one-sided presentation of the figure of Mary, which by overstressing one element compromises the overall picture given by the Gospel. Every unworthy self-interest is to be carefully banned from the area of what is sacred.
Mary is not only an example for the whole Church in the exercise of divine worship, but she is also, clearly, a teacher of the spiritual life for individual Christians. The faithful are to look up to her and imitate her in making their lives an act of worship of God and their worship a commitment of their lives. As St. Ambrose rightly stated, we need to have the spirit of Mary in order to glorify God and proclaim the greatness of the Lord. Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary gives Christians an opportunity to grow in divine grace and motivates them to cultivate theological virtues of faith, hope and love, as well as other virtues that characterized the Blessed Virgin Mary. These virtues include humility, meditation, prayerfulness (cf. Acts 1:12-14); her fortitude in exile (cf. Mt. 2:13-23) and in suffering (cf. Lk. 2:34-35, 49; Jn. 19:25); her poverty reflecting dignity and trust in God (cf. Lk. 1:48, 2:24); her attentive care for her Son, from His humble birth to the ignominy of the cross (cf. Lk.2:1-7; Jn. 19:25-27); her delicate forethought (cf. Jn. 2:1-11); her virginal purity (cf. Mt. 1:18-25; Lk. 1:26-38); her strong and chaste married love. These virtues of the Mother will also adorn her children who steadfastly study her example in order to reflect it in their own lives.
It is impossible to honour the Blessed Virgin Mary who is “full of grace” (Lk. 1:28) without thereby cultivating in oneself the state of grace, which is friendship with God, communion with Him and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is this divine grace which takes possession of the whole man and conforms him to the image of the Son of God (cf. Rom. 8:29; Col. 1:18). (n. 57, Marialis Cultus Pope Paul VI).
Devotion to the Blessed Virgin is an aspect of Christian worship (Lk. 1:48). We express our devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary through the celebration of the liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God and Marian prayer, such as the rosary, which is an “epitmo of the whole Gospel”, that expresses this devotion to the Virgin Mary. We therefore need to take these devotions seriously by participating actively in them.
OUR GREED … OUR PAINS (2)
By Rev. Fr. Leonard O. Anetekhai
Happy Independence to my mother Land Nigeria, Happy fifty years of constant struggle, I salute with all honour the likes of Nnamdi Azikiwe, Herbert Macauley, Obafemi Awolowo, Alvan Ikoku, Tafawa Belewa and numerous others, our dear patriotic leaders, who history will never forget in a hurry. These men had dreams and drive to build up a nation with a vision; they pledged all their support to be faithful, loyal, honest and to serve Nigeria and Nigerians with all their heart.
But today, their dreams have been trivialized by some opportunist and apologetic animals in human skin, who pride themselves as leaders. The enemies we have in this country are the political profiteer, the charlatans, the men in high and low places that seek bribes and demand 10 percent of every contract awarded through them. Those who agitate for the creation of states to keep their pocket filled as governors after service as ministers. Some even want the country divided permanently (state of confusion), so that they can remain in office as ministers or VIPs at least, the tribalists, the nepotists, those that make the country look big for nothing before international circles, those that have corrupted our society and put the Nigerian political calendar back by their words and deeds. For them, it is no longer support to be faithful, loyal, honest and to serve Nigeria and Nigerians with all their heart, but the slogan is to serve Nigeria and Nigerians is not by force, therefore anyone can come into public office and do what he or she likes.
The seed of greed which was planted in the 70s and 80s has today become a tree, with its root spreading fast through the length and breath of our great nation, choking and emasculating everything in its paths. The branches of this tree has found a fertile soil in all corners of the nation and prevented the nation from getting the light of development. It has provided a cover for all evils being perpetrated in the nation, making the country what it is today.
Our situation is more than a nightmare, that certainly will never make a child sleep well, not to consider the troubles his or her parent will experience. For once, our leaders have never considered the plight of her citizen from the money made from the sales of our natural resources since independence. Yes, we hear of excess fund from crude oil been shared among the three tiers of government, but to what extent has this raised the hopes of Nigerians? We are still having a deep romance with poverty in the midst of plenty. Fifty years of independence, the only gain we can count is our GREED to accrue wealth that will not last.
At 50, imagine the state of some of the roads we go through, even the so called federal roads are bad. Roads were meant to be built, contracts awarded, adequate fees paid, and all we get in return are the death traps on Ibadan-Lagos and Akure-Ibadan expressway, the Benin-Lagos road is now a human body-parts market. In some cases whole vehicles are swallowed up by deep gaps in the middle of the road. It pains me most that our leaders travel out and see roads built and maintained in other counties, but will never do the same here in Nigeria, all we see especially on our high ways is SLOW DOWN WORK IN PROGRESS, slowing down and moving forward all you find is a drum of coal with fire wood and stone around, this is done to amend our roads. Yet some Nigerians, not Ghanaians sit in a house they call National Assembly to make laws. Sorry if the name hurts, but it is true to their nature, these opportunists do not care because they now move in their Hummer jeeps and forget that men of valour have fought for the greatness of this nation, which structures they are now dismantling and leading to ruins. O Lord, come to our aid!
At 50 good health is expensive for the common man because all our Teaching Hospitals are mere consulting clinics. And crazy enough, a sick public officer today flies abroad; because he cannot get adequate treatment in the country. Education is a no go area, even our common value of brotherhood once shared, has been bastardized with our greedy attitudes in different shape and sizes. Our society is disjointed and dislocated, electoral process messed up, vibrant and lively youths have been thrown into mental darkness. In all this catalogue of woes, one area stands out - our failure in fixing our educational system.
Greed has so eaten up our system, that fighting corruption is still a dream and within us today, when the ruling class is challenged in any way, they start preaching the rule of law, but, when they are stealing our common wealth, they always fail to remember the rule of law. Though we emphasis the rule of law too well but in practise it does not apply. There is no rule of law in the jungle. In a corrupt society, rule of law becomes a ridicule, rule of law is only for a just society that defends the rights of every body, whether rich or poor, highly or lowly placed, but for a corruption ridden country like Nigeria, it is a mockery. A man steals N5, 000 and will be imprisoned instantly for years, but, a politician steals billions and will never see the prison because his case will be delayed and whenever he goes to court, he behaves like a super star instead of the super criminal he is. Waziri the EFCC boss once said “You see people taken to court and they are smiling and waving as if they are political heroes. Meanwhile they are being arraigned for criminal cases and they are waving like Mandela.” Yes, what do you expect, as the scripture say, foundation once destroyed what can the just do. It is pathetic that our situation is now a case of the fox appointed to guard the hen house. The fox ate the hen, and now the fox is to approve whether or not to investigate in regards to the missing hen.
It is a pity in Nigeria that at every conceivable level of governance, we are confronted with a confounding and ravaging enemy whose name is corruption the end result of our greed. The characters masquerading as our leaders are busy looting the nation through a variety of means and schemes. They are determined to lead us all into the realm of utter ruin and destruction and inflict tears, sweat and blood on the governed. Today, recycling has become part of our new vocabulary in Nigeria where old and discredited politicians with no credit to their names traverse the breath of the land seeking a mandate to redeem themselves.
In Nigeria we still have some of the best people today in the world come rains, come shine. But our national morality and dignity has changed, patriotism has declined with the fast growth of geographical zoning, religious sentiments and ethnicity, dedication to duty and service has gone on sabbatical. The only principle that makes sense is the amount of property we have acquired and the money in our bank account. There is no way to explain what is going on and that is why we must turn to God to get us out of this chaos, but we must address the prolonged inequity in the Niger Delta, restructure the electoral system and deeply entrench the rule of law, so that some measure of predictability in the economic and business arena can be achieved that will energize entrepreneurial and creative instincts of the citizens. Then we shall be happy celebrating more fruitful years as Nigerian.
By Rev. Fr. Leonard O. Anetekhai
Happy Independence to my mother Land Nigeria, Happy fifty years of constant struggle, I salute with all honour the likes of Nnamdi Azikiwe, Herbert Macauley, Obafemi Awolowo, Alvan Ikoku, Tafawa Belewa and numerous others, our dear patriotic leaders, who history will never forget in a hurry. These men had dreams and drive to build up a nation with a vision; they pledged all their support to be faithful, loyal, honest and to serve Nigeria and Nigerians with all their heart.
But today, their dreams have been trivialized by some opportunist and apologetic animals in human skin, who pride themselves as leaders. The enemies we have in this country are the political profiteer, the charlatans, the men in high and low places that seek bribes and demand 10 percent of every contract awarded through them. Those who agitate for the creation of states to keep their pocket filled as governors after service as ministers. Some even want the country divided permanently (state of confusion), so that they can remain in office as ministers or VIPs at least, the tribalists, the nepotists, those that make the country look big for nothing before international circles, those that have corrupted our society and put the Nigerian political calendar back by their words and deeds. For them, it is no longer support to be faithful, loyal, honest and to serve Nigeria and Nigerians with all their heart, but the slogan is to serve Nigeria and Nigerians is not by force, therefore anyone can come into public office and do what he or she likes.
The seed of greed which was planted in the 70s and 80s has today become a tree, with its root spreading fast through the length and breath of our great nation, choking and emasculating everything in its paths. The branches of this tree has found a fertile soil in all corners of the nation and prevented the nation from getting the light of development. It has provided a cover for all evils being perpetrated in the nation, making the country what it is today.
Our situation is more than a nightmare, that certainly will never make a child sleep well, not to consider the troubles his or her parent will experience. For once, our leaders have never considered the plight of her citizen from the money made from the sales of our natural resources since independence. Yes, we hear of excess fund from crude oil been shared among the three tiers of government, but to what extent has this raised the hopes of Nigerians? We are still having a deep romance with poverty in the midst of plenty. Fifty years of independence, the only gain we can count is our GREED to accrue wealth that will not last.
At 50, imagine the state of some of the roads we go through, even the so called federal roads are bad. Roads were meant to be built, contracts awarded, adequate fees paid, and all we get in return are the death traps on Ibadan-Lagos and Akure-Ibadan expressway, the Benin-Lagos road is now a human body-parts market. In some cases whole vehicles are swallowed up by deep gaps in the middle of the road. It pains me most that our leaders travel out and see roads built and maintained in other counties, but will never do the same here in Nigeria, all we see especially on our high ways is SLOW DOWN WORK IN PROGRESS, slowing down and moving forward all you find is a drum of coal with fire wood and stone around, this is done to amend our roads. Yet some Nigerians, not Ghanaians sit in a house they call National Assembly to make laws. Sorry if the name hurts, but it is true to their nature, these opportunists do not care because they now move in their Hummer jeeps and forget that men of valour have fought for the greatness of this nation, which structures they are now dismantling and leading to ruins. O Lord, come to our aid!
At 50 good health is expensive for the common man because all our Teaching Hospitals are mere consulting clinics. And crazy enough, a sick public officer today flies abroad; because he cannot get adequate treatment in the country. Education is a no go area, even our common value of brotherhood once shared, has been bastardized with our greedy attitudes in different shape and sizes. Our society is disjointed and dislocated, electoral process messed up, vibrant and lively youths have been thrown into mental darkness. In all this catalogue of woes, one area stands out - our failure in fixing our educational system.
Greed has so eaten up our system, that fighting corruption is still a dream and within us today, when the ruling class is challenged in any way, they start preaching the rule of law, but, when they are stealing our common wealth, they always fail to remember the rule of law. Though we emphasis the rule of law too well but in practise it does not apply. There is no rule of law in the jungle. In a corrupt society, rule of law becomes a ridicule, rule of law is only for a just society that defends the rights of every body, whether rich or poor, highly or lowly placed, but for a corruption ridden country like Nigeria, it is a mockery. A man steals N5, 000 and will be imprisoned instantly for years, but, a politician steals billions and will never see the prison because his case will be delayed and whenever he goes to court, he behaves like a super star instead of the super criminal he is. Waziri the EFCC boss once said “You see people taken to court and they are smiling and waving as if they are political heroes. Meanwhile they are being arraigned for criminal cases and they are waving like Mandela.” Yes, what do you expect, as the scripture say, foundation once destroyed what can the just do. It is pathetic that our situation is now a case of the fox appointed to guard the hen house. The fox ate the hen, and now the fox is to approve whether or not to investigate in regards to the missing hen.
It is a pity in Nigeria that at every conceivable level of governance, we are confronted with a confounding and ravaging enemy whose name is corruption the end result of our greed. The characters masquerading as our leaders are busy looting the nation through a variety of means and schemes. They are determined to lead us all into the realm of utter ruin and destruction and inflict tears, sweat and blood on the governed. Today, recycling has become part of our new vocabulary in Nigeria where old and discredited politicians with no credit to their names traverse the breath of the land seeking a mandate to redeem themselves.
In Nigeria we still have some of the best people today in the world come rains, come shine. But our national morality and dignity has changed, patriotism has declined with the fast growth of geographical zoning, religious sentiments and ethnicity, dedication to duty and service has gone on sabbatical. The only principle that makes sense is the amount of property we have acquired and the money in our bank account. There is no way to explain what is going on and that is why we must turn to God to get us out of this chaos, but we must address the prolonged inequity in the Niger Delta, restructure the electoral system and deeply entrench the rule of law, so that some measure of predictability in the economic and business arena can be achieved that will energize entrepreneurial and creative instincts of the citizens. Then we shall be happy celebrating more fruitful years as Nigerian.
HOW IS CHRIST PRESENT IN THE HOLY EUCHARIST?
The Doctrine of Transubstantiation and Real Presence
By Rev. Fr. Stan-William Ede
Previously, we discussed the effects of the Holy Eucharist in our life as Christians. At the moment, it is pertinent to clarify all areas of doubts and wonder especially the twin-aspects doctrine of “Transubstantiation” and the “Real Presence”.
I winded up the preceding discussion on the Eucharist with a reaffirmation of the wonderful teaching of the Catholic Church regarding Christ's consoling presence in the Blessed Sacrament: his real presence in the fullest sense: the substantial presence by which the whole and complete Christ, God and man, is present. The Eucharist, in the Mass and outside of the Mass, is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and is therefore deserving of the worship that is given to the living God, and to him alone
For this reason therefore, note that every act of reverence, every genuflection that we make before the Blessed Sacrament, is important because it is an act of faith in Christ, an act of love for Christ. And every sign of the Cross and gesture of respect made each time we pass by a church which contains the Blessed Sacrament is also an act of faith.
People have however, continued to ask the question regarding the mode of Christ's presence under the Eucharistic species. Such questions summarily stem up to this: when and how does Christ come into the host and the wine, and to what extent is he present and for how long does he endure this “self-imposed” captivity?
The Church in her Magisterium (Teaching Authority - cf. Matt. 16:18-19; 28:16-20; Jn. 21:15-17), teaches that “the mode of Christ's presence in the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the sacraments as the perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all the other sacraments tend. In the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist, the Body and Blood, together with the Soul and Divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained. This presence is called 'real' by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence as if they could not be 'real' too, but because it is presence in the 'fullest' sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present” (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC, 1374).
According to the Magisterium (cf. CCC, 1375-1377), it is by the conversion of the bread and wine into Christ's body and blood that Christ becomes present in this sacrament. The Church Fathers strongly affirmed the faith of the Church in the efficacy of the Word of Christ and of the action of the Holy Spirit to bring about this conversion. Thus St. John Chrysostom declares: “It is not man that causes the things offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but Christ himself who was crucified for us. The priest, in the role of Christ, pronounces these words, but their power and grace are God's. This is my body, the priest says. This word transforms the things offered.”
The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: “Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change, the Holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called TRANSUBSTANTIATION.
The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist. Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ. This substantial and enduring presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present in the sacred species of bread and wine - body, blood, soul and divinity, is fittingly and properly called REAL PRESENCE.
In recent years one hears more and more frequently the expression, the True Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist'. The use of the term raises questions, no doubt unintentionally, about the nature of Christ's presence in the Blessed Sacrament.
The Church is very careful in her use of language with respect to the mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist. Words can say something true, but still be an inadequate expression of the whole truth. That is the case here. 'True Presence' says something accurate, but it is an inadequate term because it doesn't distinguish the manner in which Christ is present. Christ has a true presence in the Holy Eucharist, but also in His mystical Body, in His Scriptures, in his minister the priest, in the person in the state of grace. However, only in the Blessed Sacrament does His presence pertain to the ontological or metaphysical order, the order of REAL being.
This is why the Church uses the term, “Real Presence” to uniquely distinguish His Presence in the Blessed Sacrament from His presence in other contexts. Catholics should therefore use the expression canonized by ecclesiastical usage and which alone adequately expresses the truth about the unique manner of Christ's Presence in the Blessed Sacrament.
“Real presence” is an indubitable fact, and according to the teaching of theology, a revealed fact can be proved solely by recurrence to the sources of faith, viz. Scripture and Tradition, with which is also bound up the infallible Magisterium of the Church. This may be adduced both from the words of promise (John 6:26ff) and, especially, from the words of the institution of the Eucharist as recorded in Matt. 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20 and 1 Cor. 11:23ff).
By the miracles of the loaves and fishes and the walking upon the waters, on the previous day, Christ not only prepared His hearers for the sublime discourse containing the promise of the Eucharist, but also proved to them that He possessed, as Almighty God-man, a power superior to and independent of the laws of nature, and could, therefore, provide such a supernatural food, none other, in fact, than His own Flesh and Blood, and by which he would also perpetuate his presence amongst us.
Discussions regarding the doctrine of Transubstantiation and Real Presence will not be complete without making allusion to the rich and infallible papal heritage of the Church, i.e. ex cathedra statements of Popes and other ecclesiastical authorities. According to Pope Pius XII, “For by the 'transubstantiation' of bread into the body of Christ and of wine into His blood, His body and blood are both really present ...” (Mediator Dei -1947). In his encyclical, Mysterium Fidei of 1965, Pope Paul VI emphatically noted: “It is not allowable to discuss the mystery of transubstantiation without mentioning what the Council of Trent stated about the marvelous conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the Body and of the whole substance of the wine into the Blood of Christ, speaking rather only of what is called 'transignification' and 'transfinalization,' ... but to discuss this mystery in line with the complete truth of 'transubstantiation' as Council of Trent stated it.
For his part, Pope John Paul II, in his 2003 encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia declares: “The sacramental re-presentation of Christ's sacrifice, crowned by the resurrection, in the Mass involves a most special presence which in the words of Paul VI is called 'real' not as a way of excluding all other types of presence as if they were 'not real', but because it is a presence in the fullest sense: a substantial presence whereby Christ, the God-Man, is wholly and entirely present”. After carefully examining the different views held by other Churches, the Orthodox and Protestant Churches, regarding the nature of Christ's presence in the Holy Eucharist, John Paul II further declared: “None of these Churches sees what is really in the Eucharist as a lifeless corpse and mere blood, but as the whole Christ, body and blood, soul and divinity; nor do they see the persisting outward appearances of bread and wine as a mere illusion. This actual transformation, change or conversion of the reality, while the appearances remain unaltered not the process or manner by which the transformation comes about, since all agree that this occurs 'in a way surpassing understanding' has been called in Greek, ìåôïõóßùóéò (metousiosis), meaning transubstantiation”.
By virtue of the miracle and reality of “Transubstantiation” and “Real Presence”, the Church honors the Eucharist as one of her most exalted mysteries, since for sublimity and incomprehensibility it yields in nothing to the allied mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation. These three mysteries constitute a wonderful triad, which causes the essential characteristic of Christianity, as a religion of mysteries far transcending the capabilities of reason, to shine forth in all its brilliance and splendor, and elevates Catholicism, the most faithful guardian and keeper of our Christian heritage, far above all pagan and non-Christian religions.
The organic connection of this mysterious triad is clearly discerned, if we consider Divine grace under the aspect of a personal communication of God. Thus in the bosom of the Blessed Trinity, God the Father, by virtue of the eternal generation, communicates His Divine Nature to God the Son, “the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father” (John 1:18), while the Son of God, by virtue of the hypostatic union, communicates in turn the Divine Nature received from His Father to His human nature formed in the womb of the Virgin Mary (John 1:14), in order that thus as God-man, hidden under the Eucharistic Species, He might deliver Himself to His Church, who, as a tender mother, mystically cares for and nurtures in her own bosom this, her greatest treasure, and daily places it before her children as the spiritual food of their souls.
Thus the Trinity, Incarnation, and Eucharist are really welded together like a precious chain, which in a wonderful manner links heaven with earth, God with man, uniting them most intimately and keeping them thus united.
With this in mind, the Church calls on all the faithful to be profound in the Worship of the Eucharist (cf. C.C.C., 1378). I alluded to this fact in the conclusion of my previous article on the Eucharist and, here above, in the introduction of the present. In the liturgy of the Mass, we express our faith in the real presence of Christ under the species of bread and wine by, among other ways, genuflecting or bowing profoundly as a sign of adoration of the Lord. “The Catholic Church has always offered and still offers to the sacrament of the Eucharist the cult of adoration, not only during Mass, but also outside of it, reserving the consecrated hosts with the utmost care, exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful, and carrying them in procession”.
The whole point of Transubstantiation and Real Presence, together with its raison d'etre logic and truth, is once again summarily declared by the Magisterium thus: “It is highly fitting that Christ should have wanted to remain present to his Church in this unique way. Since Christ was able to take his departure from his own in his visible form, he wanted to give us his sacramental presence; since he was about to offer himself on the cross to save us, he wanted us to have the memorial of the love with which he has loved us “to the end”, even to the giving of his life. In the Eucharistic presence, he remains mysteriously in our midst as the one who loved us and gave himself for us, and he remain under signs that express and communicate this love” (cf. C.C.C. 1380).
Consequently, we should note as Pope John Paul II (Dominicae Cenae, 3) rightly pointed out that: “The Church and the world have a great need for Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go to meet him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith, and open to making amends for the serious offences and crimes of the world. Let our adoration never cease”.
The Doctrine of Transubstantiation and Real Presence
By Rev. Fr. Stan-William Ede
Previously, we discussed the effects of the Holy Eucharist in our life as Christians. At the moment, it is pertinent to clarify all areas of doubts and wonder especially the twin-aspects doctrine of “Transubstantiation” and the “Real Presence”.
I winded up the preceding discussion on the Eucharist with a reaffirmation of the wonderful teaching of the Catholic Church regarding Christ's consoling presence in the Blessed Sacrament: his real presence in the fullest sense: the substantial presence by which the whole and complete Christ, God and man, is present. The Eucharist, in the Mass and outside of the Mass, is the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, and is therefore deserving of the worship that is given to the living God, and to him alone
For this reason therefore, note that every act of reverence, every genuflection that we make before the Blessed Sacrament, is important because it is an act of faith in Christ, an act of love for Christ. And every sign of the Cross and gesture of respect made each time we pass by a church which contains the Blessed Sacrament is also an act of faith.
People have however, continued to ask the question regarding the mode of Christ's presence under the Eucharistic species. Such questions summarily stem up to this: when and how does Christ come into the host and the wine, and to what extent is he present and for how long does he endure this “self-imposed” captivity?
The Church in her Magisterium (Teaching Authority - cf. Matt. 16:18-19; 28:16-20; Jn. 21:15-17), teaches that “the mode of Christ's presence in the Eucharistic species is unique. It raises the Eucharist above all the sacraments as the perfection of the spiritual life and the end to which all the other sacraments tend. In the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Eucharist, the Body and Blood, together with the Soul and Divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ and, therefore, the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially contained. This presence is called 'real' by which is not intended to exclude the other types of presence as if they could not be 'real' too, but because it is presence in the 'fullest' sense: that is to say, it is a substantial presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present” (cf. Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC, 1374).
According to the Magisterium (cf. CCC, 1375-1377), it is by the conversion of the bread and wine into Christ's body and blood that Christ becomes present in this sacrament. The Church Fathers strongly affirmed the faith of the Church in the efficacy of the Word of Christ and of the action of the Holy Spirit to bring about this conversion. Thus St. John Chrysostom declares: “It is not man that causes the things offered to become the Body and Blood of Christ, but Christ himself who was crucified for us. The priest, in the role of Christ, pronounces these words, but their power and grace are God's. This is my body, the priest says. This word transforms the things offered.”
The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: “Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change, the Holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called TRANSUBSTANTIATION.
The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration and endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsist. Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts, in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ. This substantial and enduring presence by which Christ, God and man, makes himself wholly and entirely present in the sacred species of bread and wine - body, blood, soul and divinity, is fittingly and properly called REAL PRESENCE.
In recent years one hears more and more frequently the expression, the True Presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist'. The use of the term raises questions, no doubt unintentionally, about the nature of Christ's presence in the Blessed Sacrament.
The Church is very careful in her use of language with respect to the mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist. Words can say something true, but still be an inadequate expression of the whole truth. That is the case here. 'True Presence' says something accurate, but it is an inadequate term because it doesn't distinguish the manner in which Christ is present. Christ has a true presence in the Holy Eucharist, but also in His mystical Body, in His Scriptures, in his minister the priest, in the person in the state of grace. However, only in the Blessed Sacrament does His presence pertain to the ontological or metaphysical order, the order of REAL being.
This is why the Church uses the term, “Real Presence” to uniquely distinguish His Presence in the Blessed Sacrament from His presence in other contexts. Catholics should therefore use the expression canonized by ecclesiastical usage and which alone adequately expresses the truth about the unique manner of Christ's Presence in the Blessed Sacrament.
“Real presence” is an indubitable fact, and according to the teaching of theology, a revealed fact can be proved solely by recurrence to the sources of faith, viz. Scripture and Tradition, with which is also bound up the infallible Magisterium of the Church. This may be adduced both from the words of promise (John 6:26ff) and, especially, from the words of the institution of the Eucharist as recorded in Matt. 26:26-28; Mark 14:22-24; Luke 22:19-20 and 1 Cor. 11:23ff).
By the miracles of the loaves and fishes and the walking upon the waters, on the previous day, Christ not only prepared His hearers for the sublime discourse containing the promise of the Eucharist, but also proved to them that He possessed, as Almighty God-man, a power superior to and independent of the laws of nature, and could, therefore, provide such a supernatural food, none other, in fact, than His own Flesh and Blood, and by which he would also perpetuate his presence amongst us.
Discussions regarding the doctrine of Transubstantiation and Real Presence will not be complete without making allusion to the rich and infallible papal heritage of the Church, i.e. ex cathedra statements of Popes and other ecclesiastical authorities. According to Pope Pius XII, “For by the 'transubstantiation' of bread into the body of Christ and of wine into His blood, His body and blood are both really present ...” (Mediator Dei -1947). In his encyclical, Mysterium Fidei of 1965, Pope Paul VI emphatically noted: “It is not allowable to discuss the mystery of transubstantiation without mentioning what the Council of Trent stated about the marvelous conversion of the whole substance of the bread into the Body and of the whole substance of the wine into the Blood of Christ, speaking rather only of what is called 'transignification' and 'transfinalization,' ... but to discuss this mystery in line with the complete truth of 'transubstantiation' as Council of Trent stated it.
For his part, Pope John Paul II, in his 2003 encyclical, Ecclesia de Eucharistia declares: “The sacramental re-presentation of Christ's sacrifice, crowned by the resurrection, in the Mass involves a most special presence which in the words of Paul VI is called 'real' not as a way of excluding all other types of presence as if they were 'not real', but because it is a presence in the fullest sense: a substantial presence whereby Christ, the God-Man, is wholly and entirely present”. After carefully examining the different views held by other Churches, the Orthodox and Protestant Churches, regarding the nature of Christ's presence in the Holy Eucharist, John Paul II further declared: “None of these Churches sees what is really in the Eucharist as a lifeless corpse and mere blood, but as the whole Christ, body and blood, soul and divinity; nor do they see the persisting outward appearances of bread and wine as a mere illusion. This actual transformation, change or conversion of the reality, while the appearances remain unaltered not the process or manner by which the transformation comes about, since all agree that this occurs 'in a way surpassing understanding' has been called in Greek, ìåôïõóßùóéò (metousiosis), meaning transubstantiation”.
By virtue of the miracle and reality of “Transubstantiation” and “Real Presence”, the Church honors the Eucharist as one of her most exalted mysteries, since for sublimity and incomprehensibility it yields in nothing to the allied mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation. These three mysteries constitute a wonderful triad, which causes the essential characteristic of Christianity, as a religion of mysteries far transcending the capabilities of reason, to shine forth in all its brilliance and splendor, and elevates Catholicism, the most faithful guardian and keeper of our Christian heritage, far above all pagan and non-Christian religions.
The organic connection of this mysterious triad is clearly discerned, if we consider Divine grace under the aspect of a personal communication of God. Thus in the bosom of the Blessed Trinity, God the Father, by virtue of the eternal generation, communicates His Divine Nature to God the Son, “the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father” (John 1:18), while the Son of God, by virtue of the hypostatic union, communicates in turn the Divine Nature received from His Father to His human nature formed in the womb of the Virgin Mary (John 1:14), in order that thus as God-man, hidden under the Eucharistic Species, He might deliver Himself to His Church, who, as a tender mother, mystically cares for and nurtures in her own bosom this, her greatest treasure, and daily places it before her children as the spiritual food of their souls.
Thus the Trinity, Incarnation, and Eucharist are really welded together like a precious chain, which in a wonderful manner links heaven with earth, God with man, uniting them most intimately and keeping them thus united.
With this in mind, the Church calls on all the faithful to be profound in the Worship of the Eucharist (cf. C.C.C., 1378). I alluded to this fact in the conclusion of my previous article on the Eucharist and, here above, in the introduction of the present. In the liturgy of the Mass, we express our faith in the real presence of Christ under the species of bread and wine by, among other ways, genuflecting or bowing profoundly as a sign of adoration of the Lord. “The Catholic Church has always offered and still offers to the sacrament of the Eucharist the cult of adoration, not only during Mass, but also outside of it, reserving the consecrated hosts with the utmost care, exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful, and carrying them in procession”.
The whole point of Transubstantiation and Real Presence, together with its raison d'etre logic and truth, is once again summarily declared by the Magisterium thus: “It is highly fitting that Christ should have wanted to remain present to his Church in this unique way. Since Christ was able to take his departure from his own in his visible form, he wanted to give us his sacramental presence; since he was about to offer himself on the cross to save us, he wanted us to have the memorial of the love with which he has loved us “to the end”, even to the giving of his life. In the Eucharistic presence, he remains mysteriously in our midst as the one who loved us and gave himself for us, and he remain under signs that express and communicate this love” (cf. C.C.C. 1380).
Consequently, we should note as Pope John Paul II (Dominicae Cenae, 3) rightly pointed out that: “The Church and the world have a great need for Eucharistic worship. Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go to meet him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith, and open to making amends for the serious offences and crimes of the world. Let our adoration never cease”.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND HER SIX COMMANDMENTS (II)
By Rev. Fr. Anselm Jimoh
While we cannot completely rule out this possibility in certain cases/situations, it is out-rightly mistaken and blatantly untrue that we do not need the priest for the forgiveness of sin. This is not an attempt to glorify the priesthood because I am a priest, the priesthood is already an honoured way of life as the Bible says, “no one takes this honour upon himself...” (Heb.5:4). To concede to the Protestant and Pentecostal claim is to allow the evil one play on our sense of human pride against the humility required for the sense of remorse to say sorry to God for our sins.
The act of confession is outwardly an action between man and man but one of them is a mediator between God and man. So it is indeed an act between man and God. Remember that the priest is taken from among men to act as a mediator between God and man. (Heb. 5:1). Christ has entrusted to the Church the powers to bind and loose, the powers to forgive and retain sins. (Matt. 16:19, 18:18, Jn. 20:23). The Church exercises this power through the ministry of her priests who are ministers of God as empowered by the Church.
Regular confession not only restores us to the grace of God but also strengthens us against sin and continually keeps us in mind of the dangers of the temptations around us. It is an observed fact that most of the leaders among the lay faithful avoid confession with the general attitude that it is not meant for them but for the “floor members” of the parish. You hardly see many of the Laity Council executives and head of societies in the queue for confessions, except, maybe at Easter confessions.
The fourth precept obliges the faithful to receive communion at least once a year and that at faster or thereabout. I must commend the fact that many Catholics make efforts to receive communion regularly. However, I cannot say for sure if all such reception of the Eucharist are genuinely motivated or just a public show. There is no law that actually says all Catholics cannot be communicants. So that, many Catholics are communicants do not make it enough, others who are vet to be should make the efforts to. Communion which is the same as the Holy Eucharist is the true body and blood of Jesus Christ, with his soul and divinity, in the appearances of bread and wine. (Penny Catechism, n.266). It is meant for the nourishment of the soul as it is the food of the soul. Frequent and regular reception of communion in a state of grace makes our spiritual life robust and strengthens us against sin and negative spiritual forces. “We are encouraged nowadays to celebrate reconciliation frequently and receive Holy Communion often to keep us close to God in order to ensure our salvation.” (CSN. 1986:111).
The Church particularly emphasizes Easter or thereabout as it is the period when we celebrate the greatest feast of Christianity; namely the resurrection of Christ. This marks the victory of good over evil, light over darkness, virtue over vice, crown over cross, Jesus over Satan, and heaven over hell.
The fifth precept is that the lay faithful should contribute to the support of their Pastors. Pastors here refer to the priests in charge of parishes or Mass Centres. In recent times, this precept is not stated as autonomous but as an addendum. The Catechism of the Catholic Church added it as an appendage to the precepts thus; “the faithful also have the duty of providing for the material needs of the Church, each according to his abilities.” (ccc 2043 parag.3). While it is not on the list of the chief commandments of the Church in the 1971 edition of the Penny Catechism (ques.229), it appears as the answer to question 245. The answer to the following question 246 states that “it is the duty of the faithful to contribute to the support of religion according to our means, so that God may be duly honoured and worshipped, and the kingdom of his Church extended.”
The obvious impression this gives is that the contribution mentioned by this precept is not to the person of the Pastor or Priest in charge, but for the work he does in the enhancement and building of the kingdom of God in his place of parochial assignment, e.g. the parish or Mass Centre. Thus, the contribution is not for the priest to buy a new car, change his wardrobe, acquire a new set of electronics or take care of his family members. It is for him to advance the faith of the people in his charge and attend to the pastoral, liturgical, and social needs of the parish and parishioners. May I quickly add that the welfare of the priest is part and parcel of the pastoral needs of the parish. A hungry priest, a sad priest, a sick priest, cannot minister as he himself will stand in need of being ministered to.
What however should not be encouraged is the luxurious and lavish life style of God's ministers, especially from the purse of the parish. Even from the personal purse of the priest; given that he has a personal purse that can accommodate such a life style, it calls for suspect. This negates the injunction of Christ in Matt.10:9-10. Lk.10:7, where he directly counsels his apostles against luxurious and outlandish lifestyle.
Parishioners are not to steal to contribute hugely to the growth of the kingdom. They are all to contribute honestly, sincerely, and generously according to their means. Such contributions are to be judiciously and wisely utilized for the growth of the kingdom of God under existing Church and diocesan guidelines as approved by the Local Ordinary - Bishop. This is to be coordinated or supervised by the priest in whose charge or area of jurisdiction the contribution is meant to be utilized.
The last but not the least precept demands that a Catholic does not marry within certain degrees of kindred. This deals with the very vast and complicated subject of marriage. It forbids that people with very close blood ties be allowed to marry. Such closeness should at least exceed the third cousin degree. This is not a real problem in Nigeria as most, if not all cultures in Nigeria already forbid such. Notwithstanding, limits still have to be specified just in case there is a case where there are no such strict regulations.
It encourages all Catholic laymen and women to marry in the Church and raise the off-spring of such marriages as good Catholic children. This is one area where there are so many questions to be asked, especially with the very recent and rampart trend of mixed marriages. Mixed marriage is not a new thing in the Catholic Church, but it has assumed a new dimension in recent times. The new trend seems one sided. It is most times always the Catholic girl getting married to the Pentecostal guy. I do not want to delve into this beyond expressing my serious suspicion that something seems not right with this new and common trend.
Apparently, these precepts of the Church do not contradict in anyway the commandments of God. They actually guide the Catholic faithful to follow and keep the commandments of God and practically live out their Christian call to the glory of God and the good and growth of the Church here on earth. It will be too nice if Catholics familiarize themselves with these precepts and allow their spiritual, pastoral and social life be guided by them.
By Rev. Fr. Anselm Jimoh
While we cannot completely rule out this possibility in certain cases/situations, it is out-rightly mistaken and blatantly untrue that we do not need the priest for the forgiveness of sin. This is not an attempt to glorify the priesthood because I am a priest, the priesthood is already an honoured way of life as the Bible says, “no one takes this honour upon himself...” (Heb.5:4). To concede to the Protestant and Pentecostal claim is to allow the evil one play on our sense of human pride against the humility required for the sense of remorse to say sorry to God for our sins.
The act of confession is outwardly an action between man and man but one of them is a mediator between God and man. So it is indeed an act between man and God. Remember that the priest is taken from among men to act as a mediator between God and man. (Heb. 5:1). Christ has entrusted to the Church the powers to bind and loose, the powers to forgive and retain sins. (Matt. 16:19, 18:18, Jn. 20:23). The Church exercises this power through the ministry of her priests who are ministers of God as empowered by the Church.
Regular confession not only restores us to the grace of God but also strengthens us against sin and continually keeps us in mind of the dangers of the temptations around us. It is an observed fact that most of the leaders among the lay faithful avoid confession with the general attitude that it is not meant for them but for the “floor members” of the parish. You hardly see many of the Laity Council executives and head of societies in the queue for confessions, except, maybe at Easter confessions.
The fourth precept obliges the faithful to receive communion at least once a year and that at faster or thereabout. I must commend the fact that many Catholics make efforts to receive communion regularly. However, I cannot say for sure if all such reception of the Eucharist are genuinely motivated or just a public show. There is no law that actually says all Catholics cannot be communicants. So that, many Catholics are communicants do not make it enough, others who are vet to be should make the efforts to. Communion which is the same as the Holy Eucharist is the true body and blood of Jesus Christ, with his soul and divinity, in the appearances of bread and wine. (Penny Catechism, n.266). It is meant for the nourishment of the soul as it is the food of the soul. Frequent and regular reception of communion in a state of grace makes our spiritual life robust and strengthens us against sin and negative spiritual forces. “We are encouraged nowadays to celebrate reconciliation frequently and receive Holy Communion often to keep us close to God in order to ensure our salvation.” (CSN. 1986:111).
The Church particularly emphasizes Easter or thereabout as it is the period when we celebrate the greatest feast of Christianity; namely the resurrection of Christ. This marks the victory of good over evil, light over darkness, virtue over vice, crown over cross, Jesus over Satan, and heaven over hell.
The fifth precept is that the lay faithful should contribute to the support of their Pastors. Pastors here refer to the priests in charge of parishes or Mass Centres. In recent times, this precept is not stated as autonomous but as an addendum. The Catechism of the Catholic Church added it as an appendage to the precepts thus; “the faithful also have the duty of providing for the material needs of the Church, each according to his abilities.” (ccc 2043 parag.3). While it is not on the list of the chief commandments of the Church in the 1971 edition of the Penny Catechism (ques.229), it appears as the answer to question 245. The answer to the following question 246 states that “it is the duty of the faithful to contribute to the support of religion according to our means, so that God may be duly honoured and worshipped, and the kingdom of his Church extended.”
The obvious impression this gives is that the contribution mentioned by this precept is not to the person of the Pastor or Priest in charge, but for the work he does in the enhancement and building of the kingdom of God in his place of parochial assignment, e.g. the parish or Mass Centre. Thus, the contribution is not for the priest to buy a new car, change his wardrobe, acquire a new set of electronics or take care of his family members. It is for him to advance the faith of the people in his charge and attend to the pastoral, liturgical, and social needs of the parish and parishioners. May I quickly add that the welfare of the priest is part and parcel of the pastoral needs of the parish. A hungry priest, a sad priest, a sick priest, cannot minister as he himself will stand in need of being ministered to.
What however should not be encouraged is the luxurious and lavish life style of God's ministers, especially from the purse of the parish. Even from the personal purse of the priest; given that he has a personal purse that can accommodate such a life style, it calls for suspect. This negates the injunction of Christ in Matt.10:9-10. Lk.10:7, where he directly counsels his apostles against luxurious and outlandish lifestyle.
Parishioners are not to steal to contribute hugely to the growth of the kingdom. They are all to contribute honestly, sincerely, and generously according to their means. Such contributions are to be judiciously and wisely utilized for the growth of the kingdom of God under existing Church and diocesan guidelines as approved by the Local Ordinary - Bishop. This is to be coordinated or supervised by the priest in whose charge or area of jurisdiction the contribution is meant to be utilized.
The last but not the least precept demands that a Catholic does not marry within certain degrees of kindred. This deals with the very vast and complicated subject of marriage. It forbids that people with very close blood ties be allowed to marry. Such closeness should at least exceed the third cousin degree. This is not a real problem in Nigeria as most, if not all cultures in Nigeria already forbid such. Notwithstanding, limits still have to be specified just in case there is a case where there are no such strict regulations.
It encourages all Catholic laymen and women to marry in the Church and raise the off-spring of such marriages as good Catholic children. This is one area where there are so many questions to be asked, especially with the very recent and rampart trend of mixed marriages. Mixed marriage is not a new thing in the Catholic Church, but it has assumed a new dimension in recent times. The new trend seems one sided. It is most times always the Catholic girl getting married to the Pentecostal guy. I do not want to delve into this beyond expressing my serious suspicion that something seems not right with this new and common trend.
Apparently, these precepts of the Church do not contradict in anyway the commandments of God. They actually guide the Catholic faithful to follow and keep the commandments of God and practically live out their Christian call to the glory of God and the good and growth of the Church here on earth. It will be too nice if Catholics familiarize themselves with these precepts and allow their spiritual, pastoral and social life be guided by them.
MANETE IN DILECTIONE MEA, SI VOS AMICI MEI ESTIS
REMAIN IN MY LOVE, IF YOU ARE MY FRIENDS (JOHN 15:9 AND 14)
By Most Rev. Dr. G. G. Dunia
HOMILY BY THE MOST REV. GABRIEL.G. DUNIA, THE BISHOP OF THE CATHOLOIC DIOCESE OF AUCHI ON THE OCCASION OF THE PRIESTLY ORDINATION OF FOUR DEACONS INTO THE PRIESTHOOD.
Amicus in the Latin language simply means a friend. Etymologically, that is from its historical origin, it means with me; one who is with me; one who goes with me as opposed to pugnus or adversus or contra mei = the one who fight me; an enemy or the one who is against me, respectively.
Remain in my love is ordinarily a master clause, an independent clause; while if you are my friends, is servant, or subordinate or dependent clause. The master clause constitutes a sentence which can stand, survive and be meaningful and useful without external support. Whereas the subordinate, servant or dependent clause cannot constitute a complete sentence; it is more of a phrase, and as such it cannot stand, and be meaningful and useful without the support of the master. The master is always alive on his own, while the servant is dead without the master's support, as it were.
In the Gospel of John, Jesus addressed his followers as follows: Ego sum vitis, vos palamites, Qui manet in me, et ego in eo, hic fert fructum muitum, quia sine me nihil potestis facere, meaning “I am the vine, you are the branches, whoever remains in me with me in him is the one who bears fruit in multitude, because without me, you have no power to do anything (John 15: 5).
The Gospel of today, which is supported by all the other readings including the responsorial psalm, brings to our knowledge the love that is begotten by master-love or mother-love, the products or children who are produced by mother-love and as such they are not servant friends, but products or children of mother-love which in Greek are referred to as Qivia = lots of love. So, the friends which the disciples become or reborn into when they remain in the love of the master, Jesus Christ are lots to love from THE LOVE. In other words, they become or reborn in love into products or lots of love from THE LOVE. Being products or lots of love from Mother-love, they cannot contradict Mother-love because love cannot contradict itself.
The servant friends assume or pretend to be friends so that they can exploit love for their deceitful and selfish purposes instead of being or remaining in and with love so that they can be reborn and become the products or children or lots of loves. The servant friends remain those who live to eat, instead of remaining those who eat to live.
My dear sons, if and when you remain in the love of God and become his true friends, who will always be with and go with him the spirit which is given to you when the Lord anoints you will always send you to bring the good news to the poor, bind up hearts that are broken in Amah, in Ivioba, in Idegun, in Ewora, in Eware, in Anegbette, in Udaba, in Ogomere, in Ogochi, in Udochi, in Afukpo, in Agbabu, in Osomegbe, in Okpaneda; you will be enable to proclaim liberty to captives, freedom to those in prison in Amughe, Ikpheli, Okeko, in Okpekpe, in Imiegba, in Okpha, Imiakebu and Itsukwi. Indeed, the spirit of the Lord will empower you to proclaim a year of favour, comfort and gladness to Okpella, to Dagbala, to Uneme, to Ugboshiafe, Ugboshele, Otuo, Ohamin, Ozala and the rest.
Certainly, if and when you remain in the love of Christ, the Holy Spirit will empower, propel and overwhelm you so that you can positively construct every kind of excellent structure necessary for the spreading and the establishment of the good news, reconciliation and peace; it will enable you to cooperate with your Bishop and your fellow brother priests positively. So, I pray for you so that the spirit of the Lord will always abide with you to lead and guard you. Amen.
You, my dear children are coworkers with the Bishop and as such you must make it a point of duty and obligation to be friends of the Bishop instead of making yourselves enemies of the Bishop. The Bishop is the Head, the father and shepherd of the faithful of the particular portion of the people of God called a Diocese. He is therefore the embodiment of all the people of God in his Diocese. The Bishop prays for the Diocese and its faithful under his pastoral care. In doing so, he embarks on both liturgical and para liturgical celebrations as well as other forms of pious devotions including the celebration of votive and ritual masses if and when these serve the spiritual well being of the Diocese and its faithful. Therefore, it signals abomination, derailment and insult to God for a priest or group of priests to form councils and make them for where idle conversations, such as the colour of the vestments the Bishop wears even most appropriately, calumny, malevolence, iniquity and vanity become the order of the day. Certainly, the priest of the Holy Catholic Church has much more than enough positive pastoral, spiritual, and social works to carry out than derailing into embarking on those vices that constitute abomination and ecclesiastical abuses of the office of priest.
And to you, my dear lay faithful, friends, pray for your priests, love them, assist them and fortify them. Make all efforts to support the tired arms of the priests lest they drop tired arms and the enemies gain upper hand and conquer. Act and behave towards your priests most becomingly and all will be well for you and for them now and forever. Amen.
LOVERS OF TRUTH SHOULD EXPECT RIDICULE SAYS POPE
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, has reminded faithful that the truth is to be made known to all, but that such knowledge is costly, since there should be no separation between what they believe and how they live. The Pope made this statement recently during his trip to the United Kingdom, at the prayer Vigil at Hyde park, in spiritual preparation for the mass in Birmingham to beatify English Cardinal and convert from Anglicanism, John Henry Newman.
Speaking at the Vigil, the Holy Father asserted that the Cardinal is an “important influence in my own life and thought” and also said that the “drama of Newman's life invites us to examine our lives, to see them against the vast horizon of God's plan and to grow in communion with the Church of every time and place; the Church of the apostles, the Church of the martyrs, the Church of the saints, the Church which Newman loved and to whose mission he devoted his entire life”.
Further, the pontiff who spoke on lessons drawn from Cardinal Newman's life, each based on the role of truth, said that “in our day, ….. as men and women made in the image and likeness of God, we were created to know the truth, to find in that truth our ultimate freedom and the fulfillment of our deepest human aspiration ….” and also that “passion for the truth, intellectual honesty and genuine conversion are costly.”
Giving the homily at the beatification ceremony, the Pope paid tribute to all who have worked so hard over many years to promote the cause of Cardinal Newman who lived a life devoted to the priestly ministry, especially to preaching, teaching and writing. While noting that the cardinal's Motto “Heart speaks to heart” gives faithful an insight into his understanding of the Christian life as a call to holiness, Pope Benedict also stressed that faithfulness to prayer gradually transforms Christians into the divine likeness.
Continuing, Pope Benedict the XVI reiterated that the cardinal's teaching on prayer explains how the faithful is definitively taken into the service of one true master, who alone has a claim to their unconditional devotion …….. and has assigned a specific task to each one of them. More, the Pope noted that the definite service to which the cardinal was called involved applying his keen intellect and his prolific pen to many of the most pressing subjects of the day, while praying that through the intercession of the blessed John Henry Newman, all who are engaged in the task of teaching and catechesis will be inspired to greater effort.
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, has reminded faithful that the truth is to be made known to all, but that such knowledge is costly, since there should be no separation between what they believe and how they live. The Pope made this statement recently during his trip to the United Kingdom, at the prayer Vigil at Hyde park, in spiritual preparation for the mass in Birmingham to beatify English Cardinal and convert from Anglicanism, John Henry Newman.
Speaking at the Vigil, the Holy Father asserted that the Cardinal is an “important influence in my own life and thought” and also said that the “drama of Newman's life invites us to examine our lives, to see them against the vast horizon of God's plan and to grow in communion with the Church of every time and place; the Church of the apostles, the Church of the martyrs, the Church of the saints, the Church which Newman loved and to whose mission he devoted his entire life”.
Further, the pontiff who spoke on lessons drawn from Cardinal Newman's life, each based on the role of truth, said that “in our day, ….. as men and women made in the image and likeness of God, we were created to know the truth, to find in that truth our ultimate freedom and the fulfillment of our deepest human aspiration ….” and also that “passion for the truth, intellectual honesty and genuine conversion are costly.”
Giving the homily at the beatification ceremony, the Pope paid tribute to all who have worked so hard over many years to promote the cause of Cardinal Newman who lived a life devoted to the priestly ministry, especially to preaching, teaching and writing. While noting that the cardinal's Motto “Heart speaks to heart” gives faithful an insight into his understanding of the Christian life as a call to holiness, Pope Benedict also stressed that faithfulness to prayer gradually transforms Christians into the divine likeness.
Continuing, Pope Benedict the XVI reiterated that the cardinal's teaching on prayer explains how the faithful is definitively taken into the service of one true master, who alone has a claim to their unconditional devotion …….. and has assigned a specific task to each one of them. More, the Pope noted that the definite service to which the cardinal was called involved applying his keen intellect and his prolific pen to many of the most pressing subjects of the day, while praying that through the intercession of the blessed John Henry Newman, all who are engaged in the task of teaching and catechesis will be inspired to greater effort.
“EVERY VOTE MUST COUNT IN 2011” - CATHOLIC BISHOPS
As Nigerians prepare to go to polls in 2011 to elect their leaders, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), has called on the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that there is a credible, fair and transparent electoral process, which should begin with a good voters' registration exercise that accredits all eligible voters and must ensure that every vote is counted and that every vote counts.
This call was made in a special message from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria on the occasion of Nigeria's golden Jubilee celebration tagged “Nigeria at 50: Towards a just and prosperous Nation,” during their second plenary meeting held at Ijebu-ode, from September 11th - 18th, 2010.
In the 10 point special message signed by Archbishop of Ibadan F. Ade Job; President of CBCN and Bishop of Abeokuta Alfred Adewale Martin; Secretary CBCN, the Bishops agreed that free and fair elections should commence at the party primaries so that the best political aspirants might emerge as party candidates for elections, as the 2011 general elections are crucial for the progress and stability of the nation and that democratic dispensation has shown that economic development depends on democratic advancement that derives from a good electoral process.
While calling on all to go beyond tribal, party, religious or gender affiliations and vote with their conscience for only honest, patriotic and selfless people, the Bishops assured that the Church, through the Justice, Development and Peace/Caritas Nigeria, will continue to propagate the Church's social teaching, political literacy, civic education programs and engage in election monitoring.
Also, the Chief Shepherds who thanked God for His fidelity to the nation in preserving the nation despite manifold conflicts and unrests that have punctuated the nation's history, noted that in biblical tradition, jubilee evokes human response to divine favours and also promotes social justice, forgiveness and reconciliation, option for the poor, cancellation of debts, release of prisoners, concerns for the common good, solidarity and peace, while urging that Nigeria's 50th anniversary of independence be marked by deep reflection and profound renewal.
More, the prelates lamented that though God has blessed the nation with abundant resources, it is not been sufficiently developed nor put to the benefits of all instead, “our resources are constantly being dissipated through acts of injustice, bribery and corruption, as a result of which many of our people are hungry, sick, ignorant and defenseless …..”, Condemning the rate of profligacy with which some politicians and public officers fritter away public funds through salaries and allowances for top government officials and members of National Assembly, staggering funds as security votes which are not only unaccounted for but “used for self-fortification and self- perpetuation in power by some leaders of the three tiers of government”. The Bishops tasked all to profoundly undergo a change of heart, while the leaders should have the requisite to govern the people.
On the spate of kidnapping, the Bishops described the act as sinful, wicked and attracts divine wrath, pointing out that the menace inflicts untold truma to the victims, dents the national image and creates an unfavourable climate for economic growth. While sympathizing with the victims of the kidnappers and their relatives, they called on the kidnappers to repent and avert God's wrath, tasked communities to proffer information to expose the evil networks of the kidnappers and the government should proactively fight criminality by ensuring the smooth running of academic institutions and have social welfare packages for the unemployed.
Further, the Chief Shepherds on the issue of security agencies, commended all efforts towards the reform in the police force and other security agencies to weed out corrupt tendencies, advocated for formal and informal training of the security agencies and providing equipment which will enable them to respond rapidly and adequately to new challenges posed in modern times by criminals, especially kidnappers.
Other issues deliberated on in the special message include the liberation of prisoners and need for reform and upgrade of the entire criminal justice system, the need for patriotism among Nigerians; enhanced through an integrated development programme founded on principles of human rights, Common Good, solidarity and subsidiary. Also, the need for a sustainable educational system in which the Bishops reiterated their call for the total return of Catholic Schools and adequate government grant-in-aid to support ongoing efforts in the education of the people.
While thanking God for a dynamic and expanding local Church, the Bishops assured that they will contribute their utmost best in the building of the nation through preaching and apostolate especially the formation of youth. Also, “to intensify catechesis which deepens the fear of God that informs genuine wisdom and progress…….”
More, the Bishops who noted that Nigeria still has difficultly and enormous task ahead in the comity of prosperous nations, urged the nation to turn to God for help as she turns fifty, while imploring Mother Mary to advocate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the leaders and people.
As Nigerians prepare to go to polls in 2011 to elect their leaders, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), has called on the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that there is a credible, fair and transparent electoral process, which should begin with a good voters' registration exercise that accredits all eligible voters and must ensure that every vote is counted and that every vote counts.
This call was made in a special message from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria on the occasion of Nigeria's golden Jubilee celebration tagged “Nigeria at 50: Towards a just and prosperous Nation,” during their second plenary meeting held at Ijebu-ode, from September 11th - 18th, 2010.
In the 10 point special message signed by Archbishop of Ibadan F. Ade Job; President of CBCN and Bishop of Abeokuta Alfred Adewale Martin; Secretary CBCN, the Bishops agreed that free and fair elections should commence at the party primaries so that the best political aspirants might emerge as party candidates for elections, as the 2011 general elections are crucial for the progress and stability of the nation and that democratic dispensation has shown that economic development depends on democratic advancement that derives from a good electoral process.
While calling on all to go beyond tribal, party, religious or gender affiliations and vote with their conscience for only honest, patriotic and selfless people, the Bishops assured that the Church, through the Justice, Development and Peace/Caritas Nigeria, will continue to propagate the Church's social teaching, political literacy, civic education programs and engage in election monitoring.
Also, the Chief Shepherds who thanked God for His fidelity to the nation in preserving the nation despite manifold conflicts and unrests that have punctuated the nation's history, noted that in biblical tradition, jubilee evokes human response to divine favours and also promotes social justice, forgiveness and reconciliation, option for the poor, cancellation of debts, release of prisoners, concerns for the common good, solidarity and peace, while urging that Nigeria's 50th anniversary of independence be marked by deep reflection and profound renewal.
More, the prelates lamented that though God has blessed the nation with abundant resources, it is not been sufficiently developed nor put to the benefits of all instead, “our resources are constantly being dissipated through acts of injustice, bribery and corruption, as a result of which many of our people are hungry, sick, ignorant and defenseless …..”, Condemning the rate of profligacy with which some politicians and public officers fritter away public funds through salaries and allowances for top government officials and members of National Assembly, staggering funds as security votes which are not only unaccounted for but “used for self-fortification and self- perpetuation in power by some leaders of the three tiers of government”. The Bishops tasked all to profoundly undergo a change of heart, while the leaders should have the requisite to govern the people.
On the spate of kidnapping, the Bishops described the act as sinful, wicked and attracts divine wrath, pointing out that the menace inflicts untold truma to the victims, dents the national image and creates an unfavourable climate for economic growth. While sympathizing with the victims of the kidnappers and their relatives, they called on the kidnappers to repent and avert God's wrath, tasked communities to proffer information to expose the evil networks of the kidnappers and the government should proactively fight criminality by ensuring the smooth running of academic institutions and have social welfare packages for the unemployed.
Further, the Chief Shepherds on the issue of security agencies, commended all efforts towards the reform in the police force and other security agencies to weed out corrupt tendencies, advocated for formal and informal training of the security agencies and providing equipment which will enable them to respond rapidly and adequately to new challenges posed in modern times by criminals, especially kidnappers.
Other issues deliberated on in the special message include the liberation of prisoners and need for reform and upgrade of the entire criminal justice system, the need for patriotism among Nigerians; enhanced through an integrated development programme founded on principles of human rights, Common Good, solidarity and subsidiary. Also, the need for a sustainable educational system in which the Bishops reiterated their call for the total return of Catholic Schools and adequate government grant-in-aid to support ongoing efforts in the education of the people.
While thanking God for a dynamic and expanding local Church, the Bishops assured that they will contribute their utmost best in the building of the nation through preaching and apostolate especially the formation of youth. Also, “to intensify catechesis which deepens the fear of God that informs genuine wisdom and progress…….”
More, the Bishops who noted that Nigeria still has difficultly and enormous task ahead in the comity of prosperous nations, urged the nation to turn to God for help as she turns fifty, while imploring Mother Mary to advocate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the leaders and people.
WOMEN MODELS IN THE CHURCH AND EVANGELIZATION (II)
By Bishop Emmanuel Badejo
( Bishop of Oyo Diocese)
Part of our last month edition on: Women Models in the Church and Evangelization and what follows come from the book “Women in the Bible for Dummies”: Here are some other useful thoughts in favour of the place of women
1. Martha and Mary: (John11). These two sisters were friends of Jesus as the gospel teaches. They are so important, vocal and active that the gospel records the dialogue between them and Jesus instead of reporting just their encounters. Note that no dialogue is recorded between Lazarus himself and Jesus although they were so close that when he died, “Jesus wept”. The dialogue with the woman at the well (John 4) is a classic of a woman's typical role in evangelization, finding time and space to listen to God and then bring the good news to others. How about the encounter with the adulterous woman in chapter 8!
2. The Virgin Mary and Elizabeth (Luke 1, 2) The gospel of Luke records several dialogues about women, much more than all other gospels, such that it has been often called the “Gospel of Women”. Mary with the angel, Mary with Elizabeth, Mary with Jesus, etc
3. All four gospels attest that more women disciples were with Jesus at his crucifixion and death than his disciples, most of whom had abandoned him. All four gospels show that it was the women, like Mary Magdalene who first discovered the empty tomb on Easter morning before any apostle. When the apostles knew it they did so only from the women who had gone there before them.
4. Jesus healed and spoke to women and men and children alike. He established that spiritual equality which puts women on the same pedestal of responsibility in evangelization as anyone else. What they lacked in the authority to govern they more than made up for with their teaching, witness, example and courage. Does this not speak to us about the true role of the Religious in the Church?
5. The phrase “certain women” was used in the Acts of the Apostles to describe the women disciples present at the Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus' resurrection. In those days Jewish men and women normally prayed separately. The fact that men and women were reported present together at the Pentecost is noteworthy. God was doing new things for women right at the beginning of the Church and through his own people.
“Although the women weren't invited into the formal realms of Church leadership, they nevertheless provided a service to the faith community and ideally, leadership and service are inseparable. Women were indispensable in maintaining Christianity in the home which was often called the domestic church by many spiritual writers over the ages. Teaching children the faith was but one aspect. Just as Jewish women upheld various prayer rituals in the homes for certain holidays, so too, Christian women ensured that the faith was promoted not just on Sunday… but throughout the week”.
From the foregoing it is obvious to me that whether as mothers, wives or daughters, women have nothing at all stopping them from becoming indeed front-liners and trail-blazers in the work of evangelization.
The Church of today, like the Church before us, is also on her way to the Promised Land. Her only assignment is to “go and make disciples of all nations” as the great mandate dictates. In that great task women have an essential role to play like their great ancestors in the community of God's people. They have always been key players in the mission of the Church from the earliest times. Although women were not treated as politically and economically equal to men they got much more involved in the daily life of the Church than in the Old Testament. Hopefully all women will see how important it is to get involved indeed in the daily life of today's Church and not be weekly members alone. I hope that in this deductive way we see the special role of women in evangelization today because of the nature of women, the family and very composition of our contemporary society.
Women ought to make their contribution to evangelization with all the gifts they have which many cannot lay claim to in the same measure: their femininity, subtlety, persuasion ability, your generosity, compassion, etc. They should be spirit-filled, be available and be courageous. It is not easy but with a prayerful disposition coined in the words of Mary's fiat, (I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done according to your will) you will continue your leading role in this regard.
True enough, some Christian denominations today admit women to ministry as deacons, priests and even Bishops. They see the exclusively male ministry and administrative leadership as unjust. Some others including the Catholic Church take the exclusively male ministry as a divine arrangement, but do not by that, see women as inferior. They ensure rather that women wield power in complementary but vital areas. The validity of this can be seen in the work of some women who have done greater evangelization work in our time than most men, represented by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Mother Angelica of EWTN etc. It is very significant that Jesus who came to take us all to heaven refrained from making his own mother an apostle, or one of the leaders of his Church! There was no need for that. Her special role was assured!
The role of women in the Church and in evangelization therefore will continue to be like salt in food. Often it can erroneously be seen as hidden and marginal but it is nonetheless indispensable and essential. Like the Blessed Virgin Mary, women must first and foremost be attentive to God's spirit. Consider what would have happened had Mary been too busy to listen to God's angel and His spirit. Nowadays it is simply becoming more and more difficult to create that space but created it must be! It will take an attitude of prayer and attentiveness to the scripture and a keen reading of the signs of the times to see where the areas of need are. These could range from prayer for vocation within the families and groups to the sponsoring of vocations; from a certain kind of “ministering to the ministers of God” to raising funds and resources for the work of the Gospel. Even, simply being good housewives and being charitable in speech about one another can win souls in ways that we cannot imagine! Let me stop here and leave other imaginative ways to your fantasy, intelligence, experience and faith.
By Bishop Emmanuel Badejo
( Bishop of Oyo Diocese)
Part of our last month edition on: Women Models in the Church and Evangelization and what follows come from the book “Women in the Bible for Dummies”: Here are some other useful thoughts in favour of the place of women
1. Martha and Mary: (John11). These two sisters were friends of Jesus as the gospel teaches. They are so important, vocal and active that the gospel records the dialogue between them and Jesus instead of reporting just their encounters. Note that no dialogue is recorded between Lazarus himself and Jesus although they were so close that when he died, “Jesus wept”. The dialogue with the woman at the well (John 4) is a classic of a woman's typical role in evangelization, finding time and space to listen to God and then bring the good news to others. How about the encounter with the adulterous woman in chapter 8!
2. The Virgin Mary and Elizabeth (Luke 1, 2) The gospel of Luke records several dialogues about women, much more than all other gospels, such that it has been often called the “Gospel of Women”. Mary with the angel, Mary with Elizabeth, Mary with Jesus, etc
3. All four gospels attest that more women disciples were with Jesus at his crucifixion and death than his disciples, most of whom had abandoned him. All four gospels show that it was the women, like Mary Magdalene who first discovered the empty tomb on Easter morning before any apostle. When the apostles knew it they did so only from the women who had gone there before them.
4. Jesus healed and spoke to women and men and children alike. He established that spiritual equality which puts women on the same pedestal of responsibility in evangelization as anyone else. What they lacked in the authority to govern they more than made up for with their teaching, witness, example and courage. Does this not speak to us about the true role of the Religious in the Church?
5. The phrase “certain women” was used in the Acts of the Apostles to describe the women disciples present at the Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus' resurrection. In those days Jewish men and women normally prayed separately. The fact that men and women were reported present together at the Pentecost is noteworthy. God was doing new things for women right at the beginning of the Church and through his own people.
“Although the women weren't invited into the formal realms of Church leadership, they nevertheless provided a service to the faith community and ideally, leadership and service are inseparable. Women were indispensable in maintaining Christianity in the home which was often called the domestic church by many spiritual writers over the ages. Teaching children the faith was but one aspect. Just as Jewish women upheld various prayer rituals in the homes for certain holidays, so too, Christian women ensured that the faith was promoted not just on Sunday… but throughout the week”.
From the foregoing it is obvious to me that whether as mothers, wives or daughters, women have nothing at all stopping them from becoming indeed front-liners and trail-blazers in the work of evangelization.
The Church of today, like the Church before us, is also on her way to the Promised Land. Her only assignment is to “go and make disciples of all nations” as the great mandate dictates. In that great task women have an essential role to play like their great ancestors in the community of God's people. They have always been key players in the mission of the Church from the earliest times. Although women were not treated as politically and economically equal to men they got much more involved in the daily life of the Church than in the Old Testament. Hopefully all women will see how important it is to get involved indeed in the daily life of today's Church and not be weekly members alone. I hope that in this deductive way we see the special role of women in evangelization today because of the nature of women, the family and very composition of our contemporary society.
Women ought to make their contribution to evangelization with all the gifts they have which many cannot lay claim to in the same measure: their femininity, subtlety, persuasion ability, your generosity, compassion, etc. They should be spirit-filled, be available and be courageous. It is not easy but with a prayerful disposition coined in the words of Mary's fiat, (I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done according to your will) you will continue your leading role in this regard.
True enough, some Christian denominations today admit women to ministry as deacons, priests and even Bishops. They see the exclusively male ministry and administrative leadership as unjust. Some others including the Catholic Church take the exclusively male ministry as a divine arrangement, but do not by that, see women as inferior. They ensure rather that women wield power in complementary but vital areas. The validity of this can be seen in the work of some women who have done greater evangelization work in our time than most men, represented by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Mother Angelica of EWTN etc. It is very significant that Jesus who came to take us all to heaven refrained from making his own mother an apostle, or one of the leaders of his Church! There was no need for that. Her special role was assured!
The role of women in the Church and in evangelization therefore will continue to be like salt in food. Often it can erroneously be seen as hidden and marginal but it is nonetheless indispensable and essential. Like the Blessed Virgin Mary, women must first and foremost be attentive to God's spirit. Consider what would have happened had Mary been too busy to listen to God's angel and His spirit. Nowadays it is simply becoming more and more difficult to create that space but created it must be! It will take an attitude of prayer and attentiveness to the scripture and a keen reading of the signs of the times to see where the areas of need are. These could range from prayer for vocation within the families and groups to the sponsoring of vocations; from a certain kind of “ministering to the ministers of God” to raising funds and resources for the work of the Gospel. Even, simply being good housewives and being charitable in speech about one another can win souls in ways that we cannot imagine! Let me stop here and leave other imaginative ways to your fantasy, intelligence, experience and faith.
OUR GREED … OUR PAINS (1)
By Rev. Fr. Leonard O. Anetekhai
Nigeria is a great nation in every respect. Its rich, vast and abundant resources to its wonderful people, makes it great and attractive to the outside world. Nigeria has prided herself as one of the most populous and panoramic nation on earth, a peaceful and striking place. As a people, we are hospitable, kind-hearted, full of life and resilient. Only a few nations in the world can boast of the peculiarities for which the nation prides itself.
Travelling the nook and cranny of this great nation, one can state without any reservation that it is the best nation in the world. Let us put aside the affluence, splendour and global acclamation of countries in Europe and America, including even those in Africa such as South Africa, there is none that can rival Nigeria in terms of its quietness, greenness and resplendence. Nigeria is simply a great nation!
Every Nigerian is entitled to his opinion just like mine. Believe it or not, if there are more suitable or grandiose words with which to express the splendour of this nation, I would be glad to use them. Aggregating the endowments of this God's nation will leave one perplexed, stupefied and speechless. What most powerful and richest nations in the world cannot boast of can be found in Nigeria. Name them: gold, diamond, tin, coal, crude oil, all kinds of domestic and wild animals, groundnut, palm tree, cocoa, rubber, assorted aquatic animals, magical landscapes, exciting grasslands, fine mountains and hills, game reserves, waterways, rivers and lakes, caves, holiday resorts, etc. It is just impossible listing all the goodies with which the good Lord has blessed Nigeria in one fell plunge, like a fisherman with so much of beautiful fishes in his net.
As a good people of a great nation we are hospitable, welcoming and kind-hearted. It was unanimously agreed of recent that Nigerians are the happiest people in the world. In fact, some commentators have opted to describe Nigerians as the salt of the earth. There is nowhere in the world you don't find at least a Nigerian. It is generally believed that anywhere there is no Nigerian is not good for human habitation. This verdict was not borne out of any frivolous assessment. Rather, it is a product of a meticulous and unbiased evaluation of the pressing circumstances under which we have lived and survived all these years. Despite our overwhelming peculiar national difficulties, Nigerians still spare time to pray, recreate and smile.
Nigerians are also very innovative, resourceful and creative. These expertise spans through every field of human endeavour. Outside the shores of Nigeria, we have great engineers, nuclear physicists, computer scientists, politicians, barristers and solicitors, accountants, academics, soldiers, and doctors, etc, who are Nigerians. Wherever Nigerians find themselves, they take as their home; investing their resources to make the place develop and thrive.
Now to the enigma: why is Nigeria yet to get over its basic problems to expand its tentacles of development in such a way as to assume its rightful place in the scheme of things in the world? Is it not contradictory and pathetic that a nation like ours that has so much excellent attributes enumerated above should still be held with disdain by other nations in the world - not excluding some small countries on the Continent of Africa? The profile of Nigeria in the outside world is below average. In fact, Nigeria is viewed as a failed state by the developed economies for the simple reason that she has thrown away golden opportunities in the past to become great in thoughts and deeds. Just cast your mind back to the Fifa World Cup in South Africa, the goal Yakubu Ayenbeni missed against Greece shows the way our opportunities of becoming a great nation are played off target, because of greed.
Citizens of Nigeria are treated with contempt by security and immigration authorities at entry points into other countries, particularly the developed ones. They see Nigerian travellers as drug-pushers, child-kidnappers, money-launderers, and involvers in other forms of criminal activities. Of recent, due to the infamous action of Abdul-Muttalab, Nigerians are being seen as sponsors of terrorism. Even though the United States has reviewed its policy on Nigeria with relation to terrorism, the harm has already been done.
This ugly situation we find ourselves today, if I speak the minds of Nigerians, is a product of the ineffectiveness that has characterised leadership in the country. Right from independence, Nigeria has been very unlucky with its leaders. The period after independence up to the mid 60's witnessed a tensed effort to save it from self-perdition. But our gangsters who pride themselves as politicians, have made things worse for us. Everybody wants his own share of the national cake, even when it stands against his or her neighbours' good living. Our “lawbreakers” in the National assembly are in the fore front of this greed, the only cancer that is ripping us of the good name we share as a nation. They are devious tax dodgers and evaders and do not pay for the public services they enjoy; they steal and rob public coffers with their gold pens in addition to committing other nefarious activities. How many of these men and women have left office with complaints of salaries not paid? No wonder they never get satisfied and want to come back, even for a third term. Yet, we have civil servants with long years of arrears not cleared. Our greed is our ruin.
It is a colossal shame, an abundant negligence of moral and civic responsibility for a country like Nigeria on the eve of her fifty anniversary as an independent Nation, with its enviously educated citizenry to be so subjected to the stone age mentality of zoning political offices to geo-political regions a concept that has produced inept, incompetent and utterly worthless set of leaders and invariably taken our country to its seemingly inescapable waterloo. This certainly is not patriotism, but greed for what individuals will want to gain and not for the common good.
Nigeria today is populated with spiritual and political vampires who are suppose to fight for the common good of Nigerians, but have joined their tables to feast on the interest of common masses they stand to protect. Take it or leave it, developmentally we are sick and our sickness has gone beyond getting the best doctors, it goes with getting best drugs too. There will be no such thing as best doctor in absence of good drugs. We cannot rely on the fact that we are good people, when we have cancerous leaders, who are eating us up to a natural death.
Greedy leaders with personal investment outside the country, bank our money oversees and flying aboard for any medical care even headache is a routine. For me, I believe a decree of execution should be passed for any leader that will loot the treasures of the country to another country; a leader that fails to perform effectively after first year in office, should be removed immediately and every leader should be held accountable by his vow to office and if he fails to deliver, his case should be seen as breach of contract and so all he made from the time in office to when he was removed from office should be stripped from him. All the past leaders that had looted the nation in their various capacities should be forced to surrender all they had looted.
But who will begin the fight for a common good, when our syndrome is what I STAND TO GAIN GREED? Like us think…We will enjoy this life better if we accept to live in honest, humane, peace and harmony together. God, help us get to where you will want us to be in Jesus name….Amen!
By Rev. Fr. Leonard O. Anetekhai
Nigeria is a great nation in every respect. Its rich, vast and abundant resources to its wonderful people, makes it great and attractive to the outside world. Nigeria has prided herself as one of the most populous and panoramic nation on earth, a peaceful and striking place. As a people, we are hospitable, kind-hearted, full of life and resilient. Only a few nations in the world can boast of the peculiarities for which the nation prides itself.
Travelling the nook and cranny of this great nation, one can state without any reservation that it is the best nation in the world. Let us put aside the affluence, splendour and global acclamation of countries in Europe and America, including even those in Africa such as South Africa, there is none that can rival Nigeria in terms of its quietness, greenness and resplendence. Nigeria is simply a great nation!
Every Nigerian is entitled to his opinion just like mine. Believe it or not, if there are more suitable or grandiose words with which to express the splendour of this nation, I would be glad to use them. Aggregating the endowments of this God's nation will leave one perplexed, stupefied and speechless. What most powerful and richest nations in the world cannot boast of can be found in Nigeria. Name them: gold, diamond, tin, coal, crude oil, all kinds of domestic and wild animals, groundnut, palm tree, cocoa, rubber, assorted aquatic animals, magical landscapes, exciting grasslands, fine mountains and hills, game reserves, waterways, rivers and lakes, caves, holiday resorts, etc. It is just impossible listing all the goodies with which the good Lord has blessed Nigeria in one fell plunge, like a fisherman with so much of beautiful fishes in his net.
As a good people of a great nation we are hospitable, welcoming and kind-hearted. It was unanimously agreed of recent that Nigerians are the happiest people in the world. In fact, some commentators have opted to describe Nigerians as the salt of the earth. There is nowhere in the world you don't find at least a Nigerian. It is generally believed that anywhere there is no Nigerian is not good for human habitation. This verdict was not borne out of any frivolous assessment. Rather, it is a product of a meticulous and unbiased evaluation of the pressing circumstances under which we have lived and survived all these years. Despite our overwhelming peculiar national difficulties, Nigerians still spare time to pray, recreate and smile.
Nigerians are also very innovative, resourceful and creative. These expertise spans through every field of human endeavour. Outside the shores of Nigeria, we have great engineers, nuclear physicists, computer scientists, politicians, barristers and solicitors, accountants, academics, soldiers, and doctors, etc, who are Nigerians. Wherever Nigerians find themselves, they take as their home; investing their resources to make the place develop and thrive.
Now to the enigma: why is Nigeria yet to get over its basic problems to expand its tentacles of development in such a way as to assume its rightful place in the scheme of things in the world? Is it not contradictory and pathetic that a nation like ours that has so much excellent attributes enumerated above should still be held with disdain by other nations in the world - not excluding some small countries on the Continent of Africa? The profile of Nigeria in the outside world is below average. In fact, Nigeria is viewed as a failed state by the developed economies for the simple reason that she has thrown away golden opportunities in the past to become great in thoughts and deeds. Just cast your mind back to the Fifa World Cup in South Africa, the goal Yakubu Ayenbeni missed against Greece shows the way our opportunities of becoming a great nation are played off target, because of greed.
Citizens of Nigeria are treated with contempt by security and immigration authorities at entry points into other countries, particularly the developed ones. They see Nigerian travellers as drug-pushers, child-kidnappers, money-launderers, and involvers in other forms of criminal activities. Of recent, due to the infamous action of Abdul-Muttalab, Nigerians are being seen as sponsors of terrorism. Even though the United States has reviewed its policy on Nigeria with relation to terrorism, the harm has already been done.
This ugly situation we find ourselves today, if I speak the minds of Nigerians, is a product of the ineffectiveness that has characterised leadership in the country. Right from independence, Nigeria has been very unlucky with its leaders. The period after independence up to the mid 60's witnessed a tensed effort to save it from self-perdition. But our gangsters who pride themselves as politicians, have made things worse for us. Everybody wants his own share of the national cake, even when it stands against his or her neighbours' good living. Our “lawbreakers” in the National assembly are in the fore front of this greed, the only cancer that is ripping us of the good name we share as a nation. They are devious tax dodgers and evaders and do not pay for the public services they enjoy; they steal and rob public coffers with their gold pens in addition to committing other nefarious activities. How many of these men and women have left office with complaints of salaries not paid? No wonder they never get satisfied and want to come back, even for a third term. Yet, we have civil servants with long years of arrears not cleared. Our greed is our ruin.
It is a colossal shame, an abundant negligence of moral and civic responsibility for a country like Nigeria on the eve of her fifty anniversary as an independent Nation, with its enviously educated citizenry to be so subjected to the stone age mentality of zoning political offices to geo-political regions a concept that has produced inept, incompetent and utterly worthless set of leaders and invariably taken our country to its seemingly inescapable waterloo. This certainly is not patriotism, but greed for what individuals will want to gain and not for the common good.
Nigeria today is populated with spiritual and political vampires who are suppose to fight for the common good of Nigerians, but have joined their tables to feast on the interest of common masses they stand to protect. Take it or leave it, developmentally we are sick and our sickness has gone beyond getting the best doctors, it goes with getting best drugs too. There will be no such thing as best doctor in absence of good drugs. We cannot rely on the fact that we are good people, when we have cancerous leaders, who are eating us up to a natural death.
Greedy leaders with personal investment outside the country, bank our money oversees and flying aboard for any medical care even headache is a routine. For me, I believe a decree of execution should be passed for any leader that will loot the treasures of the country to another country; a leader that fails to perform effectively after first year in office, should be removed immediately and every leader should be held accountable by his vow to office and if he fails to deliver, his case should be seen as breach of contract and so all he made from the time in office to when he was removed from office should be stripped from him. All the past leaders that had looted the nation in their various capacities should be forced to surrender all they had looted.
But who will begin the fight for a common good, when our syndrome is what I STAND TO GAIN GREED? Like us think…We will enjoy this life better if we accept to live in honest, humane, peace and harmony together. God, help us get to where you will want us to be in Jesus name….Amen!
WHY DO WE ASK THE SAINTS TO PRAY FOR US?
By Rev. Fr. Stan-William Ede
Questions regarding the Saints usually come in different forms such as: Who is a saint? Why do we pray to the saints? Does God not hear our prayers? So, why do we ask the saints to pray for us? What makes a person qualified for canonization as a Saint and what is the process? And so on. On this column this week, our discussion on the saints will throw light and espouse all of the afore-stated questions except the very last of them. The last question on canonization is a whole topic of its own that requires lots of pages, and so we make it a topic for discussion in another edition. But first, let us find out who a saint is and why we have to pray to the saints and ask them to pray for us.
In a general sense, a “Saint” is anyone who is in a state of grace. In the strict sense however, it refers to those who by their heroic virtue during life are recognized by the Church through canonization or at least the Ordinary Magisterium (Teaching Authority) of the Church. This official recognition indicates that such persons are in heaven and may be publicly invoked, since their virtues and death are an example and witness to Christians.
According to a renown Professor of Theology, Richard McBrien, (cf. Catholicism, San Francisco: Harper Collins Pub., 1994, pp. 1109-1110), there are at least four different meanings of the word “saint”: (1) all those who have been justified by the grace of Christ, whether they be living or dead; (2) those who, having been justified by Christ on earth, have entered into eternal life; (3) particular figures, especially biblical personages, who are examples of holiness; (4) those whom the Church, either through custom or formal canonization, has singled out as members of the Church triumphant, so that they may be commemorated in public worship.
In the Catholic tradition, all four levels of meaning apply to the term “saints”, but the 2nd, 3rd and 4th levels are usually referred to when, every November 1st, we celebrate the “Feast of All Saints”. Nevertheless, the 4th level comprising those formally recognized by the Church constitutes the aspects that elicits most of the questions in matters of the saints, and that is what we shall mostly focus on, even though the preceding two levels come into play explicitly or implicitly.
When the Church celebrates the feast of saints, it does so not to draw attention away from Christ who is the one mediator between ourselves and God, but rather to proclaim the wonderful works of Christ in his servants, and display to the faithful, fitting examples for their imitation. St. Paul rightly proclaims that God is the glory of the saints and is glorified in the saints (2Thess. 1:10).
In his visions, St. John saw in heaven, a huge crowd, a great multitude impossible to count standing before the throne and always in the presence of the Holy Trinity. They are the ones who have come out of great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (cf. Rev. 7:9-17)
We venerate (i.e. honour, and not worship or adore) the saints. In other words, we respect, love and commune with the saints because they are venerable, respectable, communicable and lovable. The saints are not extra-ordinary beings but human beings like us who lived in the same world as ours now, but in an excellent and virtuous manner. They have now, thanks to their excellence, attained the ultimate height, our heavenly home, the beatific vision of God. They have departed this physical and earthly realm, but they live now in the presence of God, crowned with victory for a life gracefully accomplished while following Jesus the Lamb (Rev. 7:14-15).
As Vatican II teaches, the Church has always believed that the apostles and Christ's martyrs, who gave the supreme witness of faith and charity by the shedding of their blood, are closely united with us in Christ; she has always venerated them, together with the Blessed Virgin Mary and the holy angels, with a special love, and asked piously for the help of their intercession (cf. Lumen Gentium, 50). To look on the life of those who have faithfully followed Christ is to be inspired with a new reason for seeking the blissful city which is to come (cf. Heb. 13:14; 11:10).
It is pertinent to note, as the Church teaches, that it is not merely by the title of example that we cherish the memory of those in heaven, but the strengthening of the union of the whole Church in the Spirit through devotion to the exercise of fraternal charity (cf. Eph. 4:1-6). Exactly as Christian communion between men on their earthly pilgrimage brings us closer to Christ, so our community with the saints joins us to Christ. It is most fitting, therefore that we love those friends and co-heirs of Jesus Christ who are also our brothers and outstanding benefactors, and that we give due thanks to God for them, humbly invoking them, and having recourse to their prayers, their aid and help in obtaining from God through his Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord, our only Redeemer and Saviour, the benefits we need (cf. Lumen Gentium, 50).
In the natural order, we seek the help and assistance of those who can assist us to obtain our needs or solve our problems. It has even become all too popular in a country like Nigeria to go through influential persons to obtain admission or appointment, or to get off the hooks of certain persons considered to be taking undue advantage of their positions to oppress others.
In the spiritual, moral and supernatural order, we also do, and must be at the service of one another. The nearer one is to God in holiness, the more able he would be to assist with prayers to obtain mercies from God for those in need. Thus, God asked Abimelech to request Abraham's prayers: “He shall pray for you and you shall live” (Gen. 20:7); “Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and healed his wife and female servants that they bore children” (Gen. 20:17). Moses' intercession saved the Hebrew people in the desert (Ex. 32:11-14). God declared that He'll listen to Job's prayers for Eliphaz and group (Job 42:8-10). When Tobit and Sarah prayed, it was Raphael the Archangel who brought and read the record of their prayers before the glory of the Lord (Tob. 12:12).
St. Paul constantly requested for, and encouraged the prayers from, and among the saints (cf. 1 Thess. 5:25; Eph. 6:18; Rom. 15:30). Let us however note that Christ remains the sole mediator between God and man. The saints are not mediators but effective helpers and guide in our struggle to attain the glory of God via Christ's unique mediation. According to St. John Chrysostom, the saints are able to aid us via the merits of Christ our one mediator. They assist us via their greater powers as holy people to attain our common ultimate end. According to St. Jerome, the saints, having been one with us as the militant Church, now assist us more effectively as the triumphant Church in the Father's bosom. That is the reason why even “angels rejoice greatly over one sinner who repents” (Lk. 15:10).
As found in the spiritual book, My Daily Bread, Jesus speaks to us thus: “Honor My saints not only for the help which they can obtain for you, but also because they are the firmest heroes of all mankind. The greater the cause for which a man lives, the greater the man. The saints lived for my glory, for the praise of my goodness and the following of my truth. Theirs was the highest, most noble, and least selfish of all causes”.
By reason of the fact that those in heaven are more closely united with Christ, they establish the whole Church more firmly in holiness, lend nobility to the worship which the Church offers to God here on earth, and in many ways contribute to its greater edification. They shared our humanity while their lives were more perfectly transformed into the image of Christ. God vividly manifests his presence in them and his face to men. He speaks to us in them, and gives us a sign of his kingdom, to which we are strongly drawn, having so great a cloud of witnesses over us (Heb. 12:2) and such testimony to the truth of the Gospel.
To the extent we share with saints not only in the common commitment of following our Lord Jesus but some more special form of serving him, it is appropriate that we develop a special closeness to them, while as individuals we may have one or some that we have particular closeness and devotions to. Their lives exhibit many more definite aspects of goodness and particular ways of holiness to imitate as we find on the life of Jesus himself. Furthermore, since we share in their work, it is only to be expected that they do what they can to help us. These close personal relationships with real though invisible friends give our hope a concreteness and vivacity it otherwise lacks.
One who is conscious of the communion of saints, which gathers together God's children of every time and place, is not likely to be overly impressed with arguments based on the values of contemporary humankind. The “contemporary” world rapidly passes away; the relevance of today is the straitjacket of tomorrow. But why do members of this one generation imagine their judgment to be a reflection of anything but rationalization, when far larger groups of persons already have reached heaven by accepting this teaching and striving to live up to it, often with great sacrifices which showed a love of Jesus not so evident today?
According to our beloved Pope John Paul the Great, “Today, those white robes which St. John described, shine with a thousand lights; they are the innumerable reflections of one single Light which a multitude of men and women 'from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues' (Rev 7:9) reflect over the whole Church. They are men and women who show us Gods holiness incarnate in the human being.” The saints are members of Christ's glorified body, and form the Church triumphant, yet they are also in communion with us, in the bond of charity which never diminishes. Charity makes them united with us and solicitous for us; this is the ineffable mystery of the saints. Through this there exists a profound relationship between those who are still pilgrims on this earth, those who are being purified, and those who enjoy glory (cf. Lumen Gentium, 49).
Through this deep unity we should feel closer today to all the saints who, before us, have believed all that we believe, and who are now our friends and intercessors in heaven.
By Rev. Fr. Stan-William Ede
Questions regarding the Saints usually come in different forms such as: Who is a saint? Why do we pray to the saints? Does God not hear our prayers? So, why do we ask the saints to pray for us? What makes a person qualified for canonization as a Saint and what is the process? And so on. On this column this week, our discussion on the saints will throw light and espouse all of the afore-stated questions except the very last of them. The last question on canonization is a whole topic of its own that requires lots of pages, and so we make it a topic for discussion in another edition. But first, let us find out who a saint is and why we have to pray to the saints and ask them to pray for us.
In a general sense, a “Saint” is anyone who is in a state of grace. In the strict sense however, it refers to those who by their heroic virtue during life are recognized by the Church through canonization or at least the Ordinary Magisterium (Teaching Authority) of the Church. This official recognition indicates that such persons are in heaven and may be publicly invoked, since their virtues and death are an example and witness to Christians.
According to a renown Professor of Theology, Richard McBrien, (cf. Catholicism, San Francisco: Harper Collins Pub., 1994, pp. 1109-1110), there are at least four different meanings of the word “saint”: (1) all those who have been justified by the grace of Christ, whether they be living or dead; (2) those who, having been justified by Christ on earth, have entered into eternal life; (3) particular figures, especially biblical personages, who are examples of holiness; (4) those whom the Church, either through custom or formal canonization, has singled out as members of the Church triumphant, so that they may be commemorated in public worship.
In the Catholic tradition, all four levels of meaning apply to the term “saints”, but the 2nd, 3rd and 4th levels are usually referred to when, every November 1st, we celebrate the “Feast of All Saints”. Nevertheless, the 4th level comprising those formally recognized by the Church constitutes the aspects that elicits most of the questions in matters of the saints, and that is what we shall mostly focus on, even though the preceding two levels come into play explicitly or implicitly.
When the Church celebrates the feast of saints, it does so not to draw attention away from Christ who is the one mediator between ourselves and God, but rather to proclaim the wonderful works of Christ in his servants, and display to the faithful, fitting examples for their imitation. St. Paul rightly proclaims that God is the glory of the saints and is glorified in the saints (2Thess. 1:10).
In his visions, St. John saw in heaven, a huge crowd, a great multitude impossible to count standing before the throne and always in the presence of the Holy Trinity. They are the ones who have come out of great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb (cf. Rev. 7:9-17)
We venerate (i.e. honour, and not worship or adore) the saints. In other words, we respect, love and commune with the saints because they are venerable, respectable, communicable and lovable. The saints are not extra-ordinary beings but human beings like us who lived in the same world as ours now, but in an excellent and virtuous manner. They have now, thanks to their excellence, attained the ultimate height, our heavenly home, the beatific vision of God. They have departed this physical and earthly realm, but they live now in the presence of God, crowned with victory for a life gracefully accomplished while following Jesus the Lamb (Rev. 7:14-15).
As Vatican II teaches, the Church has always believed that the apostles and Christ's martyrs, who gave the supreme witness of faith and charity by the shedding of their blood, are closely united with us in Christ; she has always venerated them, together with the Blessed Virgin Mary and the holy angels, with a special love, and asked piously for the help of their intercession (cf. Lumen Gentium, 50). To look on the life of those who have faithfully followed Christ is to be inspired with a new reason for seeking the blissful city which is to come (cf. Heb. 13:14; 11:10).
It is pertinent to note, as the Church teaches, that it is not merely by the title of example that we cherish the memory of those in heaven, but the strengthening of the union of the whole Church in the Spirit through devotion to the exercise of fraternal charity (cf. Eph. 4:1-6). Exactly as Christian communion between men on their earthly pilgrimage brings us closer to Christ, so our community with the saints joins us to Christ. It is most fitting, therefore that we love those friends and co-heirs of Jesus Christ who are also our brothers and outstanding benefactors, and that we give due thanks to God for them, humbly invoking them, and having recourse to their prayers, their aid and help in obtaining from God through his Son, Jesus Christ, Our Lord, our only Redeemer and Saviour, the benefits we need (cf. Lumen Gentium, 50).
In the natural order, we seek the help and assistance of those who can assist us to obtain our needs or solve our problems. It has even become all too popular in a country like Nigeria to go through influential persons to obtain admission or appointment, or to get off the hooks of certain persons considered to be taking undue advantage of their positions to oppress others.
In the spiritual, moral and supernatural order, we also do, and must be at the service of one another. The nearer one is to God in holiness, the more able he would be to assist with prayers to obtain mercies from God for those in need. Thus, God asked Abimelech to request Abraham's prayers: “He shall pray for you and you shall live” (Gen. 20:7); “Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and healed his wife and female servants that they bore children” (Gen. 20:17). Moses' intercession saved the Hebrew people in the desert (Ex. 32:11-14). God declared that He'll listen to Job's prayers for Eliphaz and group (Job 42:8-10). When Tobit and Sarah prayed, it was Raphael the Archangel who brought and read the record of their prayers before the glory of the Lord (Tob. 12:12).
St. Paul constantly requested for, and encouraged the prayers from, and among the saints (cf. 1 Thess. 5:25; Eph. 6:18; Rom. 15:30). Let us however note that Christ remains the sole mediator between God and man. The saints are not mediators but effective helpers and guide in our struggle to attain the glory of God via Christ's unique mediation. According to St. John Chrysostom, the saints are able to aid us via the merits of Christ our one mediator. They assist us via their greater powers as holy people to attain our common ultimate end. According to St. Jerome, the saints, having been one with us as the militant Church, now assist us more effectively as the triumphant Church in the Father's bosom. That is the reason why even “angels rejoice greatly over one sinner who repents” (Lk. 15:10).
As found in the spiritual book, My Daily Bread, Jesus speaks to us thus: “Honor My saints not only for the help which they can obtain for you, but also because they are the firmest heroes of all mankind. The greater the cause for which a man lives, the greater the man. The saints lived for my glory, for the praise of my goodness and the following of my truth. Theirs was the highest, most noble, and least selfish of all causes”.
By reason of the fact that those in heaven are more closely united with Christ, they establish the whole Church more firmly in holiness, lend nobility to the worship which the Church offers to God here on earth, and in many ways contribute to its greater edification. They shared our humanity while their lives were more perfectly transformed into the image of Christ. God vividly manifests his presence in them and his face to men. He speaks to us in them, and gives us a sign of his kingdom, to which we are strongly drawn, having so great a cloud of witnesses over us (Heb. 12:2) and such testimony to the truth of the Gospel.
To the extent we share with saints not only in the common commitment of following our Lord Jesus but some more special form of serving him, it is appropriate that we develop a special closeness to them, while as individuals we may have one or some that we have particular closeness and devotions to. Their lives exhibit many more definite aspects of goodness and particular ways of holiness to imitate as we find on the life of Jesus himself. Furthermore, since we share in their work, it is only to be expected that they do what they can to help us. These close personal relationships with real though invisible friends give our hope a concreteness and vivacity it otherwise lacks.
One who is conscious of the communion of saints, which gathers together God's children of every time and place, is not likely to be overly impressed with arguments based on the values of contemporary humankind. The “contemporary” world rapidly passes away; the relevance of today is the straitjacket of tomorrow. But why do members of this one generation imagine their judgment to be a reflection of anything but rationalization, when far larger groups of persons already have reached heaven by accepting this teaching and striving to live up to it, often with great sacrifices which showed a love of Jesus not so evident today?
According to our beloved Pope John Paul the Great, “Today, those white robes which St. John described, shine with a thousand lights; they are the innumerable reflections of one single Light which a multitude of men and women 'from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues' (Rev 7:9) reflect over the whole Church. They are men and women who show us Gods holiness incarnate in the human being.” The saints are members of Christ's glorified body, and form the Church triumphant, yet they are also in communion with us, in the bond of charity which never diminishes. Charity makes them united with us and solicitous for us; this is the ineffable mystery of the saints. Through this there exists a profound relationship between those who are still pilgrims on this earth, those who are being purified, and those who enjoy glory (cf. Lumen Gentium, 49).
Through this deep unity we should feel closer today to all the saints who, before us, have believed all that we believe, and who are now our friends and intercessors in heaven.
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH AND HER SIX COMMANDMENTS (I)
By Rev. Fr. Anselm Jimoh
The church desires that her members be true and authentic Christians by living up to the expectation of Christianity. In other words, Catholic Christians are expected to live lives worthy of the call of Christ. As part of the measures to help and enable Catholics to be true Christians, the Church instituted six commandments, which in recent Church language are now referred to “precepts.” The Church extols and impresses on all Catholics to adhere to these precepts. These precepts do not replace the Ten Commandments of God, neither do they compete with them or deplete them.
The Ten Commandments of God are unchangeable and not subject to alteration of man or the Church. They are divine and the church only interprets and explains them. Whereas, the precepts of the Church are guidelines for Christians to assist and enable them adhere and keep the Ten Commandments. Since they were instituted by the Church, the Church can always amend or even alter them.
A closer look at the precepts of the Church, which is the aim of this article, shows that they are extensions of God's Ten Commandments. They do not remove, diminish, or belittle the Ten Commandments, but spell out the duties and responsibilities of Christians as required by the Ten Commandments.
The 1971 edition of the “Penny Catechism” in question 229 asked: “What are the chief commandments of the church?” Note that this question and questions 247 and 248, which deals with the precepts of the Church, were revised in 1978. Perhaps this explains why the new Catechism of the Catholic Church (ccc) dropped the term “commandments” in preference for “precepts” (ccc. 2041 -2043). As in the revised edition of the Penny Catechism, the precept on the contribution to the support of your Pastor is not listed but referred to in the text.
The precepts of the Church are: (i) To keep the Sundays and holy days of obligation, holy, by hearing Mass and resting from servile works, (ii) To keep the days of fasting and abstinence appointed by the church, (iii) To go to confession at least once a year, (iv) To receive the Blessed Sacrament at least once a year, and that at Easter or thereabouts, (v) To contribute to the support of our Pastors, (vi) Not to marry within certain degrees of kindred.
Many Catholics are not aware of these precepts, let alone make efforts to keep them. What is observable show that a high percentage of Catholics are barely aware of these precepts. They perhaps know there are certain precepts of the Church, but cannot even list them; not to talk about practice them. Catechumens are taught to memorize these precepts and no sooner have they received the sacraments, they forget the precepts. Even at the time they memorize the precepts, they cannot explain them as they are never taught the meaning of some of the operative terms in which the precepts are framed.
The first precept obliges us to keep Sundays holy as a day set aside to serve the Lord. To aid us in dedicating that day to the Lord, we are to attend Mass (ccc 1389) and avoid any strenuous work that would divert our attention from God. This is precisely what “servile works” refer to; any work that brings material benefits. This requires some clarifications to avoid a blind and false interpretation.
Such essential services provided by health care workers, social services or humanitarian workers, as well as transporters are not necessarily included here. Thus, a Nurse on duty, or a doctor on call, a transporter expected to convey a group to certain destination on a particular mission on a day that unavoidably falls on Sunday or a holy day of obligation, may not be bound by this precept. Those seriously sick and saddled with the responsibility of taking care of them are equally exempt from this precept. Therefore, it is not every time one fails to attend mass on Sunday or holy day of obligation that he/she has sinned. However, such excuses like; traveling, the Catholic Church was not close by, I did not know where the Catholic Church was in the area as I was a visitor there, I was attending to my relations who came home for a burial, etc. are definitely not good reasons to miss Sunday Mass.
This precept also binds parents, guardians, and masters to allow all in their charge to attend Mass on Sundays. There are known cases where masters go to church and ask their wards to stay at home or go to the market or do other things that would not allow them attend Mass that Sunday.
Holy days of obligation are days that should be treated as Sundays. These are days of solemnities that may not necessarily fall on a Sunday. Some of such solemnities include Assumption, the feast of All Saints, and others. As stated in the Roman calendar.
The second precept binds all Catholics to keep the days of fasting and abstinence appointed by the Church. These days are Ash Wednesday; that marks the beginning of the Lenten season and Good Friday: the day Jesus Christ was crucified. Apart from these days, the Church encourages all the faithful to periodically practice abstinence and fasting especially during the Lenten season and all Fridays of the year (ccc 1438, SC 109 110). This is to help the faithful with self-control, discipline, and the master over the desires of the flesh, which more often than not disposes us to sin.
We have all sinned and fallen short of God's glory (Rom.3:23). But God like the father of the prodigal son, is always willing and happy to welcome us back, so we are called to turn away from sin and do penance. Fasting and abstinence are aspects of penance. The Church encourages us to practice them so as to cultivate the good habit of self discipline that puts our inordinate appetite under check. Fasting and abstinence is recommended for the physically healthy and those who are within the age bracket of 15 - 65 years old. Those who are sick and are under aged are not bound by this as it may do them more harm than good.
Fasting and abstinence is not about food and drink alone but more so, such things that can easily lure us away from God and deceitfully put us on the path of sin. Fasting and abstinence can take the form of suspending our favourite TV programme, social entertainment, limiting the intake of our favourite meal. etc. All these help us to master our instincts and freedom of heart, (ccc 2043).
The third precept obliges the faithful to go to confession at least once a year. This is the barest minimum; otherwise, confession should be a very regular practice for any good Christian. Unfortunately, for various reasons which we cannot discuss within the present scope, it is one of the least utilized sacraments. In most parishes the number of penitents at weekly confession is ridiculously small in comparism to the number of communicants on Sundays. I wonder at times if people no longer sin. As the latter is definitely not the case, it would most likely be the case then that the faithful do not find it necessary to go to confession. Many wait for Easter to keep the once a year obligatory confession.
Every good Christian is encouraged to go to confession as often as he/she falls into serious sin. Serious sin refers to what we generally call “mortal” sin; a term that has been replaced with “grievous” or “serious” in contemporary ecclesia terminology. A serious or grave sin destroys the sanctifying grace of God in us. “Confession is the act of accusing ourselves of our sins to a priest approved by the Bishop.” (Penny Catechism, in. 295). It is a humble act of asking God's forgiveness that avail us of the forgiving grace of God and the restoration of God's sanctifying grace in our lives. Many Catholics are deceived today by the Protestant and Pentecostal claim that we do not need sacramental confession but we can on our own ask God's forgiveness without confessing to a priest
By Rev. Fr. Anselm Jimoh
The church desires that her members be true and authentic Christians by living up to the expectation of Christianity. In other words, Catholic Christians are expected to live lives worthy of the call of Christ. As part of the measures to help and enable Catholics to be true Christians, the Church instituted six commandments, which in recent Church language are now referred to “precepts.” The Church extols and impresses on all Catholics to adhere to these precepts. These precepts do not replace the Ten Commandments of God, neither do they compete with them or deplete them.
The Ten Commandments of God are unchangeable and not subject to alteration of man or the Church. They are divine and the church only interprets and explains them. Whereas, the precepts of the Church are guidelines for Christians to assist and enable them adhere and keep the Ten Commandments. Since they were instituted by the Church, the Church can always amend or even alter them.
A closer look at the precepts of the Church, which is the aim of this article, shows that they are extensions of God's Ten Commandments. They do not remove, diminish, or belittle the Ten Commandments, but spell out the duties and responsibilities of Christians as required by the Ten Commandments.
The 1971 edition of the “Penny Catechism” in question 229 asked: “What are the chief commandments of the church?” Note that this question and questions 247 and 248, which deals with the precepts of the Church, were revised in 1978. Perhaps this explains why the new Catechism of the Catholic Church (ccc) dropped the term “commandments” in preference for “precepts” (ccc. 2041 -2043). As in the revised edition of the Penny Catechism, the precept on the contribution to the support of your Pastor is not listed but referred to in the text.
The precepts of the Church are: (i) To keep the Sundays and holy days of obligation, holy, by hearing Mass and resting from servile works, (ii) To keep the days of fasting and abstinence appointed by the church, (iii) To go to confession at least once a year, (iv) To receive the Blessed Sacrament at least once a year, and that at Easter or thereabouts, (v) To contribute to the support of our Pastors, (vi) Not to marry within certain degrees of kindred.
Many Catholics are not aware of these precepts, let alone make efforts to keep them. What is observable show that a high percentage of Catholics are barely aware of these precepts. They perhaps know there are certain precepts of the Church, but cannot even list them; not to talk about practice them. Catechumens are taught to memorize these precepts and no sooner have they received the sacraments, they forget the precepts. Even at the time they memorize the precepts, they cannot explain them as they are never taught the meaning of some of the operative terms in which the precepts are framed.
The first precept obliges us to keep Sundays holy as a day set aside to serve the Lord. To aid us in dedicating that day to the Lord, we are to attend Mass (ccc 1389) and avoid any strenuous work that would divert our attention from God. This is precisely what “servile works” refer to; any work that brings material benefits. This requires some clarifications to avoid a blind and false interpretation.
Such essential services provided by health care workers, social services or humanitarian workers, as well as transporters are not necessarily included here. Thus, a Nurse on duty, or a doctor on call, a transporter expected to convey a group to certain destination on a particular mission on a day that unavoidably falls on Sunday or a holy day of obligation, may not be bound by this precept. Those seriously sick and saddled with the responsibility of taking care of them are equally exempt from this precept. Therefore, it is not every time one fails to attend mass on Sunday or holy day of obligation that he/she has sinned. However, such excuses like; traveling, the Catholic Church was not close by, I did not know where the Catholic Church was in the area as I was a visitor there, I was attending to my relations who came home for a burial, etc. are definitely not good reasons to miss Sunday Mass.
This precept also binds parents, guardians, and masters to allow all in their charge to attend Mass on Sundays. There are known cases where masters go to church and ask their wards to stay at home or go to the market or do other things that would not allow them attend Mass that Sunday.
Holy days of obligation are days that should be treated as Sundays. These are days of solemnities that may not necessarily fall on a Sunday. Some of such solemnities include Assumption, the feast of All Saints, and others. As stated in the Roman calendar.
The second precept binds all Catholics to keep the days of fasting and abstinence appointed by the Church. These days are Ash Wednesday; that marks the beginning of the Lenten season and Good Friday: the day Jesus Christ was crucified. Apart from these days, the Church encourages all the faithful to periodically practice abstinence and fasting especially during the Lenten season and all Fridays of the year (ccc 1438, SC 109 110). This is to help the faithful with self-control, discipline, and the master over the desires of the flesh, which more often than not disposes us to sin.
We have all sinned and fallen short of God's glory (Rom.3:23). But God like the father of the prodigal son, is always willing and happy to welcome us back, so we are called to turn away from sin and do penance. Fasting and abstinence are aspects of penance. The Church encourages us to practice them so as to cultivate the good habit of self discipline that puts our inordinate appetite under check. Fasting and abstinence is recommended for the physically healthy and those who are within the age bracket of 15 - 65 years old. Those who are sick and are under aged are not bound by this as it may do them more harm than good.
Fasting and abstinence is not about food and drink alone but more so, such things that can easily lure us away from God and deceitfully put us on the path of sin. Fasting and abstinence can take the form of suspending our favourite TV programme, social entertainment, limiting the intake of our favourite meal. etc. All these help us to master our instincts and freedom of heart, (ccc 2043).
The third precept obliges the faithful to go to confession at least once a year. This is the barest minimum; otherwise, confession should be a very regular practice for any good Christian. Unfortunately, for various reasons which we cannot discuss within the present scope, it is one of the least utilized sacraments. In most parishes the number of penitents at weekly confession is ridiculously small in comparism to the number of communicants on Sundays. I wonder at times if people no longer sin. As the latter is definitely not the case, it would most likely be the case then that the faithful do not find it necessary to go to confession. Many wait for Easter to keep the once a year obligatory confession.
Every good Christian is encouraged to go to confession as often as he/she falls into serious sin. Serious sin refers to what we generally call “mortal” sin; a term that has been replaced with “grievous” or “serious” in contemporary ecclesia terminology. A serious or grave sin destroys the sanctifying grace of God in us. “Confession is the act of accusing ourselves of our sins to a priest approved by the Bishop.” (Penny Catechism, in. 295). It is a humble act of asking God's forgiveness that avail us of the forgiving grace of God and the restoration of God's sanctifying grace in our lives. Many Catholics are deceived today by the Protestant and Pentecostal claim that we do not need sacramental confession but we can on our own ask God's forgiveness without confessing to a priest
CATHOLICS AND THE CROSS
The cross is a symbol of salvation and attached to it is a figure of suffering. There cannot be a perfect Christian living without a constant reminder of the cross. Jesus says this to all Christians about the cross: The Christian life cannot in any way be devoid of the cross. Christ himself carried His cross to Calvary, suffered death before He rose to glory.
As Catholics, Christ did not in anyway promise us a life free of persecution and challenges in the form of pain and suffering, He rather admonished His followers to pick up their individual crosses and follow Him and also to endure all trails and persecutions. (Cf. Jn 16: 33). Prosperity preachers in our today world overlook the value of the cross and human suffering in achieving a greater good the salvation of our souls.
Sickness, broken relationships and insufficient resources are among sources of pain and suffering. Some are by chance, like an auto accident that maims us or a cancer that cripples our loved ones or even takes their live. Some are by neglect, such as our failure to prepare for times of pressure. Some are by design, where we willingly take on enormous responsibilities in order to achieve some goal. Some are by sin, where we willingly go against God's commands and then must suffer the consequences. Whatever the source, we all feel the dark shadow of suffering.
Instead of denying or pretending that our crosses are not there, our best bet as Catholics is to acknowledge and accept the pains, challenges and sufferings that we must bear and seek hope and solace in His promise to help us bear it all.
The cross as expressed in discomforts, afflictions, suffering, unhappiness, pains, trails, difficulties and persecutions are used to strengthen, restore and establish the children of God, who humbly yield themselves to it. The Bible testifies: “But after you have suffered a little while, the God of grace, who calls you to share His eternal glory in union with Christ, will himself perfect you and give you firmness, strength, and a sure foundation. (Cf. 1 Peter 5: 10).
The cross is a symbol of salvation and attached to it is a figure of suffering. There cannot be a perfect Christian living without a constant reminder of the cross. Jesus says this to all Christians about the cross: The Christian life cannot in any way be devoid of the cross. Christ himself carried His cross to Calvary, suffered death before He rose to glory.
As Catholics, Christ did not in anyway promise us a life free of persecution and challenges in the form of pain and suffering, He rather admonished His followers to pick up their individual crosses and follow Him and also to endure all trails and persecutions. (Cf. Jn 16: 33). Prosperity preachers in our today world overlook the value of the cross and human suffering in achieving a greater good the salvation of our souls.
Sickness, broken relationships and insufficient resources are among sources of pain and suffering. Some are by chance, like an auto accident that maims us or a cancer that cripples our loved ones or even takes their live. Some are by neglect, such as our failure to prepare for times of pressure. Some are by design, where we willingly take on enormous responsibilities in order to achieve some goal. Some are by sin, where we willingly go against God's commands and then must suffer the consequences. Whatever the source, we all feel the dark shadow of suffering.
Instead of denying or pretending that our crosses are not there, our best bet as Catholics is to acknowledge and accept the pains, challenges and sufferings that we must bear and seek hope and solace in His promise to help us bear it all.
The cross as expressed in discomforts, afflictions, suffering, unhappiness, pains, trails, difficulties and persecutions are used to strengthen, restore and establish the children of God, who humbly yield themselves to it. The Bible testifies: “But after you have suffered a little while, the God of grace, who calls you to share His eternal glory in union with Christ, will himself perfect you and give you firmness, strength, and a sure foundation. (Cf. 1 Peter 5: 10).
BEHOLD THE GREATEST AND SUPREME GIFT THAT HAS EVER BEEN GIVEN
HOMILY DELIVERED BY HIS LORDSHIP, MOST REV. DR. GABRIEL G. DUNIA AT IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CATHEDRAL AUCHI, ON THE OCCASION OE THE PRIESTLY ORDINATION OF EIGHT PRIESTS FOR THE DIOCESE OF AUCHI.
Jesus Christ, the perfect heavenly priest is both the priesthood and the plenitude (that is the fullness) of priesthood itself. The very fact that Christ (who of himself) is the union of God with man, makes it easy to understand that the priesthood of Christ which is the union of God with man is the greatest and supreme gift that has ever been given to man. (Cf. Hebrews 7: 26-28). Not even the angels have this honour.
If and when any man is called and he answers the call from God 10 become and be a priest, priesthood is subsequently conferred on him, he is anointed with the spirit of Christ to be another Christ (alter christus) upon whom the spirit of the Lord is to proclaim the good news to the poor, to free the captives, to give sight to the blind, to give joy to those in sorrow and announce the Lord's year of favour (Lk 4: 18-20). The conferment of this Spirit and its authority to do and undo is an unequivocal confirmation that there can be nothing greater on earth, in this world than the gift of priesthood and a priest, nothing but God and only God Himself
The priest is therefore not merely an imitator of Christ; he is alter christus -another Christ.
The proof that the priest is another Christ, to be and do what Christ has done and does is clearly summarized thus:
Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins..... he is bound to offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. And no one takes the honour upon himself but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. (Heb,5: 1,3-4)
In being what Christ is, the priest is segregatus in Evangelism Del = he is set apart for (proclamation of) the gospel (the good news) of God. (cf Rom: 1: 1). He offers the same sacrifice which Christ offered; he models himself in exactitude in the life and ministry of Christ, he becomes and be a true witness to the totality of the life, works, suffering, crucifixion, death and resurrection of his master. Jesus Christ.
Knowing that priesthood is conferred on the recipient to constitute him a mediator between God and man, acting in persona Christi (in the person of Christ). It is not part of the priest's duties to seek and find self-exaltation, pride, power, dominion, vain glories, infidelity, disobedience, obstinacy and the likes. It is part and parcel of the priestly life and ministry for the priest to seek and find the love of God, obedience, faith, piety, self-effacement and total sacrifice of himself
My dear sons, today you are going to be conferred with the greatest and supreme gift that has ever been given to man, to any created being for that matter Although the priesthood is conferred upon human being, mere earthenware jar, a fragile vessel, ordinary clay pot, as it ware, it's tremendously sublime. It is imaginably amazing, it is supernatural!}1 terrible. For this reason, Mother Trinida. in recounting what she saw and experienced during the celebration of Mass, the Holy Eucharist. she said "if I were a priest, I would have died shortly after the celebration of my first mass", the reason is that what she saw and experienced during Mass was simply referred to as "terrible terribility".
The Catholic priest, should therefore revere most profound that priesthood of Christ which has been conferred upon him. He should not toil with it; he cannot afford to toil with it in any way, for whatever reason. Obviously, the priest should know that if he dares to toil with the priesthood of Christ, he is bound to fail and if he fails, the consequences are grave; he will be rejected both by friends and foes heaven and earth; for failure like poverty, has no friend, no father, no mother, no brother, no sister, no neighbour and "no nothing", at all. Hence, Christ Himself states: it is the one who does the will of my Father in heaven who is my brother and sister and mother (Matt 12:50; cfMk 3: 34).
Therefore, you must be most faithfully committed to celebrating, worshiping and adoring the Most Holy Eucharist as the centre, the summit (or highest point) around which the rest of your priestly duties and obligations point and revolve. As alter christus, you must unreservedly serve like your master who came to serve not to be served. You must be crucified with Christ; you must constitute the true bread, the Body and Blood to be consumed: you must be gift of God to man. to the world and gift from man to God. The God who we cannot see ordinarily must be made visible in the Eucharist, because ''the Eucharist is a glorious ray of heavenly Jerusalem which pierces the clouds of history and lights upon our journey" Ecclesia de Eucharesia number 19. Priesthood, the Eucharist and the Church are intimately united. No priesthood, no Eucharist, no Church, (cf. Archbishop Donald W. Wuer). The priestly spirituality is intrinsically Eucharistic (cf Sacramentum Caristatis - Pope Benedict XXVI, no 80.
And you my beloved faithful of Christ, clergy, consecrated persons and laity, guide and guard the priesthood and priests of Christ in the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church most jealously. Your being proud or ashamed of the priesthood of Christ in the Catholic Church can depend, to a large extent upon whether you produce and provide the bullets and the smooth ground with which and upon which the battle can be fought and won or fought and lost by the priest.
HOMILY DELIVERED BY HIS LORDSHIP, MOST REV. DR. GABRIEL G. DUNIA AT IMMACULATE CONCEPTION CATHEDRAL AUCHI, ON THE OCCASION OE THE PRIESTLY ORDINATION OF EIGHT PRIESTS FOR THE DIOCESE OF AUCHI.
Jesus Christ, the perfect heavenly priest is both the priesthood and the plenitude (that is the fullness) of priesthood itself. The very fact that Christ (who of himself) is the union of God with man, makes it easy to understand that the priesthood of Christ which is the union of God with man is the greatest and supreme gift that has ever been given to man. (Cf. Hebrews 7: 26-28). Not even the angels have this honour.
If and when any man is called and he answers the call from God 10 become and be a priest, priesthood is subsequently conferred on him, he is anointed with the spirit of Christ to be another Christ (alter christus) upon whom the spirit of the Lord is to proclaim the good news to the poor, to free the captives, to give sight to the blind, to give joy to those in sorrow and announce the Lord's year of favour (Lk 4: 18-20). The conferment of this Spirit and its authority to do and undo is an unequivocal confirmation that there can be nothing greater on earth, in this world than the gift of priesthood and a priest, nothing but God and only God Himself
The priest is therefore not merely an imitator of Christ; he is alter christus -another Christ.
The proof that the priest is another Christ, to be and do what Christ has done and does is clearly summarized thus:
Every high priest is taken from among men and made their representative before God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins..... he is bound to offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. And no one takes the honour upon himself but he who is called by God, just as Aaron was. (Heb,5: 1,3-4)
In being what Christ is, the priest is segregatus in Evangelism Del = he is set apart for (proclamation of) the gospel (the good news) of God. (cf Rom: 1: 1). He offers the same sacrifice which Christ offered; he models himself in exactitude in the life and ministry of Christ, he becomes and be a true witness to the totality of the life, works, suffering, crucifixion, death and resurrection of his master. Jesus Christ.
Knowing that priesthood is conferred on the recipient to constitute him a mediator between God and man, acting in persona Christi (in the person of Christ). It is not part of the priest's duties to seek and find self-exaltation, pride, power, dominion, vain glories, infidelity, disobedience, obstinacy and the likes. It is part and parcel of the priestly life and ministry for the priest to seek and find the love of God, obedience, faith, piety, self-effacement and total sacrifice of himself
My dear sons, today you are going to be conferred with the greatest and supreme gift that has ever been given to man, to any created being for that matter Although the priesthood is conferred upon human being, mere earthenware jar, a fragile vessel, ordinary clay pot, as it ware, it's tremendously sublime. It is imaginably amazing, it is supernatural!}1 terrible. For this reason, Mother Trinida. in recounting what she saw and experienced during the celebration of Mass, the Holy Eucharist. she said "if I were a priest, I would have died shortly after the celebration of my first mass", the reason is that what she saw and experienced during Mass was simply referred to as "terrible terribility".
The Catholic priest, should therefore revere most profound that priesthood of Christ which has been conferred upon him. He should not toil with it; he cannot afford to toil with it in any way, for whatever reason. Obviously, the priest should know that if he dares to toil with the priesthood of Christ, he is bound to fail and if he fails, the consequences are grave; he will be rejected both by friends and foes heaven and earth; for failure like poverty, has no friend, no father, no mother, no brother, no sister, no neighbour and "no nothing", at all. Hence, Christ Himself states: it is the one who does the will of my Father in heaven who is my brother and sister and mother (Matt 12:50; cfMk 3: 34).
Therefore, you must be most faithfully committed to celebrating, worshiping and adoring the Most Holy Eucharist as the centre, the summit (or highest point) around which the rest of your priestly duties and obligations point and revolve. As alter christus, you must unreservedly serve like your master who came to serve not to be served. You must be crucified with Christ; you must constitute the true bread, the Body and Blood to be consumed: you must be gift of God to man. to the world and gift from man to God. The God who we cannot see ordinarily must be made visible in the Eucharist, because ''the Eucharist is a glorious ray of heavenly Jerusalem which pierces the clouds of history and lights upon our journey" Ecclesia de Eucharesia number 19. Priesthood, the Eucharist and the Church are intimately united. No priesthood, no Eucharist, no Church, (cf. Archbishop Donald W. Wuer). The priestly spirituality is intrinsically Eucharistic (cf Sacramentum Caristatis - Pope Benedict XXVI, no 80.
And you my beloved faithful of Christ, clergy, consecrated persons and laity, guide and guard the priesthood and priests of Christ in the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church most jealously. Your being proud or ashamed of the priesthood of Christ in the Catholic Church can depend, to a large extent upon whether you produce and provide the bullets and the smooth ground with which and upon which the battle can be fought and won or fought and lost by the priest.
“THINKLESS OF THE WORLD BUT THE WORD OF GOD” SAYS FR. ANETEKHAI
The diocesan director of Social Communications and Editor-in-chief of THE PROMISE Newspaper, Rev. Fr. Leonard Anetekhai, has stressed the need for faithful to take time off their material possessions and pursuit and focus on the word of God inorder to fill their lives with spiritual riches which cannot be stolen or destroyed.
This call was made recently at the Eucharistic celebration to mark the 62nd birthday ceremony of Mrs Alice Azebiokhai at St. Theresa Parish, Fugar.
Giving the homily at the thanksgiving mass concelebrated with Rev. Ferdinand Okafor and a host of Revs., Fr. Anetekhai emphasized on the need for faithful to reflect on the good deeds of the Lord in their lives and faithfully serve Him, as most people have forgotten their reason of living, in pursuit of material wealth.
He further reminded the congregation that it is not their length of days that matter, but their relationship with others, how they have been able to contribute positively and made positive imparts in the lives of all around them and the society at large.
Referring to the Gospel of the day, Fr. Anetekhai enjoined all present to be engulfed in the things of God rather than worldly pleasures, while urging them to be steadfast in their faith and place their safety in the hands of the Lord.
Also, he lamented that many Christians have sold their souls to the devil and lost their salvation in the pursuit of wealth, while some have been carried away by false doctrines and practices owing to their failure to be true ambassadors of Christ.
More, the priest called on parents to teach their children and wards the true way of the Lord and to ensure they always attend masses and Church activities, while tasking the youths to shun all activities that will bring shame to their families, society and the Church.
Highlight of the mass was a joyful thanksgiving procession to the altar by Mrs Alice Azebiokhai and family, friends and well wishers, thanking God for the gift of life.
During the reception at her residence, Sir A.B.C. Nasamu led the opening prayers and also chaired the occasion in which he thanked God for the gift of life on Mrs Azebiokhai and emphasized that it is worth celebrating the goodness of the Lord.
Climax of the occasion was the cutting of the birthday cake by Mrs Azebiokhai with her children.
The diocesan director of Social Communications and Editor-in-chief of THE PROMISE Newspaper, Rev. Fr. Leonard Anetekhai, has stressed the need for faithful to take time off their material possessions and pursuit and focus on the word of God inorder to fill their lives with spiritual riches which cannot be stolen or destroyed.
This call was made recently at the Eucharistic celebration to mark the 62nd birthday ceremony of Mrs Alice Azebiokhai at St. Theresa Parish, Fugar.
Giving the homily at the thanksgiving mass concelebrated with Rev. Ferdinand Okafor and a host of Revs., Fr. Anetekhai emphasized on the need for faithful to reflect on the good deeds of the Lord in their lives and faithfully serve Him, as most people have forgotten their reason of living, in pursuit of material wealth.
He further reminded the congregation that it is not their length of days that matter, but their relationship with others, how they have been able to contribute positively and made positive imparts in the lives of all around them and the society at large.
Referring to the Gospel of the day, Fr. Anetekhai enjoined all present to be engulfed in the things of God rather than worldly pleasures, while urging them to be steadfast in their faith and place their safety in the hands of the Lord.
Also, he lamented that many Christians have sold their souls to the devil and lost their salvation in the pursuit of wealth, while some have been carried away by false doctrines and practices owing to their failure to be true ambassadors of Christ.
More, the priest called on parents to teach their children and wards the true way of the Lord and to ensure they always attend masses and Church activities, while tasking the youths to shun all activities that will bring shame to their families, society and the Church.
Highlight of the mass was a joyful thanksgiving procession to the altar by Mrs Alice Azebiokhai and family, friends and well wishers, thanking God for the gift of life.
During the reception at her residence, Sir A.B.C. Nasamu led the opening prayers and also chaired the occasion in which he thanked God for the gift of life on Mrs Azebiokhai and emphasized that it is worth celebrating the goodness of the Lord.
Climax of the occasion was the cutting of the birthday cake by Mrs Azebiokhai with her children.
BISHOP DUNIA ORDAINS EIGHT PRIESTS
The Catholic community of Auchi Diocese was agog with joy and praises to God on Saturday, August 28th 2010, as the Bishop of the diocese Most Rev. Dr. Gabriel Ghieakhomo Dunia, ordained Eight (8) priests for the diocese at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Auchi. The widely publicized ceremony was well attended by priests from within and outside the diocese, religious, dignitaries as well as friends and relatives of the ordained, as it is the highest number to be ordained so far in the diocese.
At the commencement of the ceremony, the candidates Revs. Agabi Isaac, Elogie Innocent, Imoagene Polycarp, Ibhawa Victor, Momoh Francis, Ikhianosimhe Francis, Okafor Ferdinand and Oshiokede Nicolas were called by the diocesan vocations director Rev. Fr. Anslem Jimoh, while the Judicial Vicar Rev. Fr. (Dr.) Benedict Etafor, presented them to the Bishop.
Delivering the homily titled “The greatest sacrifice”, Bishop G.G. Dunia reiterated that the greatest sacrifice the Church has ever had, is the divine office of the priest, which he noted is very sacred, demanding and should be revered.
The chief shepherd called on the Catholic faithful of the diocese and beyond to always see the priesthood as a sacred entity, which should be accorded love, respect and kindness, while stressing that the ordinals have made the greatest sacrifice by offering themselves for the pure love of the Church and humanity as a whole. More, he pointed out that Christ has declared that it is only those who do the will of the father that are His brothers and sisters and charged them to offer themselves to all without special concessions for brothers, sisters or relatives, while also urging them to be willing vessels for God, who should serve and not to be served as they are gifts of God to man.
Continuing, the prelate stressed that the priesthood, the Eucharist and the Church are unanimously one, as they are there to complement one another, noting that without the priest, there will be no Eucharistic celebration and without the Eucharist, there will be no special or divine office for the priest and that without the Church the two cannot stand.
Further, the Bishop charged all Catholic faithful to support their priests, thank God for their lives, and appreciate the gift of God through them.
While addressing the candidates for ordination, Bishop Dunia charged them to be shepherd of the flock of Christ entrusted to them, while also urging them to love and care for the Christian community just as Christ loves and cares for Church, so as to present a holy and blemish free faithful before the Lord.
Shortly after the homily and examination of the candidates by the Bishop, the ordinals knelt before him to make the promise of obedience to him and his successors. Thereafter, they prostrated before God for the invocation of the saints in prayer, which was followed by the laying on of hands by the Bishop and priests present.
Highpoint of the ordination ceremony was the prayer of consecration by virtue of which they were ordained priests consequently, they were vested with chasubles, anointed for the ministry and presented with bread and wine for Eucharistic celebration. The newly ordained priest gave a kiss of peace to the Bishop, other priests and one another.
There was also a joyful thanksgiving procession led by the newly ordained priests accompanied by family members, friends and well wishers from within and outside the diocese.
After the post communion prayers, the diocesan vocations director Rev. Fr. Anslem Jimoh, welcomed the new priests and thanked all for their contributions to the success of the ceremony, while calling on all Catholic faithful present to support seminarians in cash and in kind especially the feeding and training of those in the Minor Seminary at Immaculate Conception Seminary at Ivianokpodi, stressing on the need for groups and individuals to take it up as a challenge to sponsor them, as the harvest is rich but the labourers are few to man the rich harvest.
During the vote of thanks, Rev. Fr. (Prof) John Onimhawo thanked all who came for the event and gave a special commendation to the Bishop, pointed out that the diocese now has a total of sixty-three (63) priests of which Bishop G.G. Dunia has ordained a total thirty-two (32) Priests.
He further commended the newly ordained priest for sacrificing their lives for the divine office of the priesthood and also the Rectors of St. Paul's Major Seminary Ibadan and All Saints Major Seminary Ekpoma, Rev. Frs. Michael Sasa and Oredipe respectively for their wonderful works.
He also thanked the choir, the Church warden, the mass-servers (Altar knights) and everyone who had in one way or the other contributed to the success of the occasion.
The Bishop in his closing remarks sent warm greetings to all Moslems during this period of their fasting.
In attendance were priests from various dioceses and Archdioceses across the country Lady Chevalier Alimikhena among other prominent dignitaries.
The Catholic community of Auchi Diocese was agog with joy and praises to God on Saturday, August 28th 2010, as the Bishop of the diocese Most Rev. Dr. Gabriel Ghieakhomo Dunia, ordained Eight (8) priests for the diocese at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Auchi. The widely publicized ceremony was well attended by priests from within and outside the diocese, religious, dignitaries as well as friends and relatives of the ordained, as it is the highest number to be ordained so far in the diocese.
At the commencement of the ceremony, the candidates Revs. Agabi Isaac, Elogie Innocent, Imoagene Polycarp, Ibhawa Victor, Momoh Francis, Ikhianosimhe Francis, Okafor Ferdinand and Oshiokede Nicolas were called by the diocesan vocations director Rev. Fr. Anslem Jimoh, while the Judicial Vicar Rev. Fr. (Dr.) Benedict Etafor, presented them to the Bishop.
Delivering the homily titled “The greatest sacrifice”, Bishop G.G. Dunia reiterated that the greatest sacrifice the Church has ever had, is the divine office of the priest, which he noted is very sacred, demanding and should be revered.
The chief shepherd called on the Catholic faithful of the diocese and beyond to always see the priesthood as a sacred entity, which should be accorded love, respect and kindness, while stressing that the ordinals have made the greatest sacrifice by offering themselves for the pure love of the Church and humanity as a whole. More, he pointed out that Christ has declared that it is only those who do the will of the father that are His brothers and sisters and charged them to offer themselves to all without special concessions for brothers, sisters or relatives, while also urging them to be willing vessels for God, who should serve and not to be served as they are gifts of God to man.
Continuing, the prelate stressed that the priesthood, the Eucharist and the Church are unanimously one, as they are there to complement one another, noting that without the priest, there will be no Eucharistic celebration and without the Eucharist, there will be no special or divine office for the priest and that without the Church the two cannot stand.
Further, the Bishop charged all Catholic faithful to support their priests, thank God for their lives, and appreciate the gift of God through them.
While addressing the candidates for ordination, Bishop Dunia charged them to be shepherd of the flock of Christ entrusted to them, while also urging them to love and care for the Christian community just as Christ loves and cares for Church, so as to present a holy and blemish free faithful before the Lord.
Shortly after the homily and examination of the candidates by the Bishop, the ordinals knelt before him to make the promise of obedience to him and his successors. Thereafter, they prostrated before God for the invocation of the saints in prayer, which was followed by the laying on of hands by the Bishop and priests present.
Highpoint of the ordination ceremony was the prayer of consecration by virtue of which they were ordained priests consequently, they were vested with chasubles, anointed for the ministry and presented with bread and wine for Eucharistic celebration. The newly ordained priest gave a kiss of peace to the Bishop, other priests and one another.
There was also a joyful thanksgiving procession led by the newly ordained priests accompanied by family members, friends and well wishers from within and outside the diocese.
After the post communion prayers, the diocesan vocations director Rev. Fr. Anslem Jimoh, welcomed the new priests and thanked all for their contributions to the success of the ceremony, while calling on all Catholic faithful present to support seminarians in cash and in kind especially the feeding and training of those in the Minor Seminary at Immaculate Conception Seminary at Ivianokpodi, stressing on the need for groups and individuals to take it up as a challenge to sponsor them, as the harvest is rich but the labourers are few to man the rich harvest.
During the vote of thanks, Rev. Fr. (Prof) John Onimhawo thanked all who came for the event and gave a special commendation to the Bishop, pointed out that the diocese now has a total of sixty-three (63) priests of which Bishop G.G. Dunia has ordained a total thirty-two (32) Priests.
He further commended the newly ordained priest for sacrificing their lives for the divine office of the priesthood and also the Rectors of St. Paul's Major Seminary Ibadan and All Saints Major Seminary Ekpoma, Rev. Frs. Michael Sasa and Oredipe respectively for their wonderful works.
He also thanked the choir, the Church warden, the mass-servers (Altar knights) and everyone who had in one way or the other contributed to the success of the occasion.
The Bishop in his closing remarks sent warm greetings to all Moslems during this period of their fasting.
In attendance were priests from various dioceses and Archdioceses across the country Lady Chevalier Alimikhena among other prominent dignitaries.
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